Project 5 — Grids, Style and Format
Print
2019
Individual Project
About the Project
This project was an assignment for a course on Communications Design Fundamentals at Carnegie Mellon University. I was tasked to create a book with at least 8 spreads.
Ideas
Early-on, I knew I wanted to create something I could use. I teach technology, so I first wanted to create a book on technology, but then decided that paper isn’t a meaningful way of teaching technology (at least in the ways that I do it). As such, I explored the settings during which paper would make sense. After some thought and exploration, I decided that a bar is that spot. At that point, I knew that I wanted to make a recipe book for alcoholic drink recipes.
Now that I had my concept, I began thinking of concepts. I thought about different types of bars: home bars, restaurants, etc. I also thought about how people interact with alcohol and the times during which they would use a book like this. This led to some concepts such as a book that is incorporated into a drink shaker, a book that could be looped into a bar stool, and even a book that could double as posters. Eventually, I decided on a more modern and explorative concept.
Years ago, people would program computers using punch-cards and I wanted to create a similar experience for alcoholic drinks. I imagined a machine that would take in a slip of paper, read the punch card, and automatically pour the correct proportions for the drink. My book would be a book of these punch-cards.
Final Compositions
Each punch-card has two sides. The front side displays the information for the drink’s recipe and the back side shows a graphic that relates to the drink.
For the front and back covers, I wanted to create something that added to the home-bar aesthetic, which let to me thinking of laser-cut wood. For the binding, I wanted to make sure that it was variable — people should be able to add and remove pages at their will. This led me to adding two wooden covers, both laser-cut, tied together with a leather thread.
