Exhibition Identities
2023
Fonts: Bradford, Akzidenz-Grotesk Buch, Acumin Variable Concept
Tools: Adobe Illustrator, InDesign
Internship projects at the Center for Book Arts (CBA).
The Center for Book Arts is a non-profit organization that hosts exhibitions, workshops and artists-in-residence. They also maintain an extensive collection of artists’ books. The organization underwent a rebrand in 2021 by Studio-Set, giving the historic brand a contemporary look reflective of the continued relevance of printmaking and book arts.
Visual Volumes: Contemporary Explorations in Book Arts
Visual Volumes: Contemporary Explorations in Book Arts showcased the work of six artists-in-residence at the Center for Book Arts, whose work discussed themes such as ephemerality, the digital divide, repetition and identity—all centered around a shared interest in bookmaking.
My responsibility was to create a hero image and brochure for the exhibition.
I started off thinking about the title, especially the use of the word Volumes. The work in the show spanned photography, installation and video—these artists were thinking beyond the book as a volume for information, they were re-constructing it.
Building (constructing) on the idea of re-construction, I pulled swipe from Ikea instructions, book-making diagrams, and architectural blueprints, finding the dotted lines and gridded information to be a natural extension of CBA’s existing identity.
Inspiration
Image from Construction 53, altered colorsIllustration by Paul O’ConnorDiagram from Digital Print Bureau
Hero ImageThis graphic, to be primarily used on the website to announce the exhibition, reworks an image originally published by the Digital Print Bureau.
The graphic evokes the title of the exhibition: literally a visual break-down of a book or “volume”. The diagram is dynamic, reminiscent of a bird in flight, and reflective of the liveliness of the artist’s interpretations on this traditional medium. The title is set in an outline of Acumin Variable Concept.
BrochurePrinted in-house on CBA’s risograph machine, the brochure acts as an exhibition ‘blueprint’.
Kumi Korf: A World of Her Own
Kumi Korf: A World of Her Own is a retrospective showcasing over 25 works from the artist’s decades-long career, including 14 artists’ books alongside prints, assemblages, and costumes. The work draws from Korf’s personal memory, exploring innovative approaches to storytelling.
The exhibition’s visual identity is built to reflect the care at which individual components are assembled within Kumi Korf’s body of work.
Inspiration
Hero ImageThe hero image draws its vibrant, warm color palette and organic line work from Kumi Korf’s pieces. I chose to put Kumi’s gestural treatment of shapes at the center of this exhibitions identity, appearing in both the hero image as a tracing from her work Silk and Secrecy, and in smaller ornamental details throughout the brochure.
BrochureWhile sketching early iterations of this brochure, I considered how the reader’s interaction with the brochure could mimic their experience with the work itself.
Through translucent fabrics, pages, and origami folds, Korf’s work is constantly reconsidering the literal and figurative angles from which a story can be told.
With a relatively short list of Selected Works, I was left with an extra page to play with a landscape version of the title sequence. (below, left panel)
Instagram graphics