Detroit based communication
designer, visual storyteller, and friend.
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03_ON THINGS_ON CHANGE_ARCHIVE
Role:
Ideation
Typography
Book Design
Book Binding
Overview:
On Things/On Change is a physical archive of various types of design and artwork created across the world and spanning many years. The goal was to create an archival system that organizes visual work alongside critical and contextual information. The original concept centered on a single book sorted by color.
Process:
The process began with gathering 70 different works, each accompanied by denotative data and a short personal reflection explaining its selection. Initially, all the images were to be arranged chromatically in one book, however, midway through, a shift in perspective prompted a reorganization. The concept evolved into two books, both still organized by color, but separated by personal taste: one for liked designs (On Things), and one for disliked designs (On Change). On Change became an inverted version of On Things, with its layout reversed to read backwards. Each book followed a consistent, minimal grid system: one page displayed the image of the work, while the opposite page presented its information in a minimal typographic cluster, leaving plenty of negative space on the page. Each entry was titled with the artist’s name, and gradient page dividers marked transitions between colors. When printed, both books were bound together using a Japanese stab binding, creating a two-sided accordion-style structure. Readers could begin from either end, with both sides progressing along the color spectrum and meeting at red in the center.
Outcomes:
This project presented several challenges. The first was rethinking the structure and design mid-process in response to changing preferences, turning what was one book into two distinct, conceptually rich volumes. The second was the binding machine breaking, disrupting the original plan to perfect-bind the book.. This last minute complication led to a pivot toward Japanese stitching, a previously unfamiliar technique that ultimately proved to be a beautiful solution. Through these obstacles, the project became an exercise in adaptation. Learning extended beyond how to create a simple color system for the archive, to embrace and embed into the design the change in preferences that came along the way instead of changing ideas entirely.