I have no idea if the Tramontina Bible of Barbecue is available or not. If it is, it has to be one of the most expensive, disposable books ever made. Created by JWT Brazil, this manual contains everything needed to grill your favorite cut of meat within it’s covers which are made of charcoal. The promotional video below shows how the Bible of Barbecue works with pages functioning from a fan, to a knife sharpening stone, to a salt shaker. The book itself is a wonderful piece of design, even if it exists only in small quantities or not at all. The video produced by JWT Brazil and Santa Transmedia, shows some really nice directing by Gustavo Gripe and Raul Krebs, with solid editing and sound design completing the spot. Frankly I hope this thing is for real. I’d love to have a copy for the design work alone, and yes, I would never use it the way they do in the video.
Book Design
Coralie Bickford-Smith on Book Design for Gestalten.
Coralie Bickford-Smith In-house designer of Penguin Books, is the subject of this latest release for Gestalten TV. Her role as an in house designer for Penguin has allowed her to create incredible designs for a popular book series that has attracted worldwide attention.
Bickford-Smith talks about her opportunity to work with sumptuous materials and Victorian binding that she has infused with modern interpretations to update these classics. Her design work which was introduced in Gestalten’s Fully Booked: Ink on Paper show the influence of the golden age of the craft of bookmaking and publishing.
In video below, Bickford-Smith talks about the process of book design and the significant role of research, her process, and how she got struck by the book of love at a very early age. She also talks about why the best in book design is yet to come.
An Edible Cookbook Promotion.
Korefe has designed and produced what they are calling the “First and only Cookbook you can read and eat”. With pages made from sheet pasta, that have been embossed with text, that claim might be right.
The book is made out sheets of fresh pasta which can be opened and read. The book doesn’t come with any additional ingredients, but with a little imagination you could quickly turn this into a tasty dinner. Packaged as classic lasagne, the Cookbook was designed as a special project for a large German publishing house.
This is a pretty clever promotional idea. An idea that definitely leaves an impression and remains memorable long after the book has been read and hopefully consumed. I wish there was more information at the Korefe site on the design team, but unfortunately I didn’t see anything.
Design Friday. Netherlands Decorated Books.
Less than 100 years ago books were considered to be a luxury item in many cases. Most were still hard bound, they were still fairly expensive, and they were usually owned by individuals that had enough expendable income to afford them. I’ve always been fascinated with book design. I think part of it stems from the fact that I studied print making in art school and was in love with the idea of making hand printed books. Today when I was going through the VADS website looking for inspiration I came across one of their collections that I hadn’t been through before, the “Netherlands Decorated Books Collection”, from the London College of Communication.
These book covers represent a period of time when book cover design was an opulent in a sense. I say that because we are talking about a period when paper book jackets, were not that common, and when they were used, the printing limitations of the period tended to limit the designer. Under the jacket though, there is a world of additional design, created from debossing, and gold foil. And on the inside of the book, there are detailed fine lithographs in black and white.
This series of books from the online VADS collection contain bindings in the Nieuwe Kunst and Art Nouveau styles created by contemporary artists working in the Netherlands such as Jozef Cantre, Jan Toroop, and P.A.H. Hofman’s designs.
P.A.H. Hofman was an important designer of stained glass and posters as well as book bindings. Hofman produced striking and accomplished binding designs which are characteristic of his own style, which was influenced by the Art Nouveau period. His works used decorative cloth bindings, a medium that had not survived the First World War in England.
In addition to Hofman, work by Jozef Cantre is heavily represented. Cantre was a Belgian artist, working in the Netherlands. In 1930 he returned to Belgium to take the position as Chair of Typography at Ecole des Beaux-Arts de la Cambre. His work prior to his return involved producing binding designs using woodcuts.
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