B L A N K B O O K.se space to thinkOLD

We need time and space to reflect on the past, grasp the present and envision the future

A notebook is more than a portable container for ink.

It is a mental as well as a physical space. Your own room. When you enter any room, you orientate yourself by the boundaries and the qualities of the space. The walls and the materials that compose the room guide us how to be, act and feel. When we are repeatedly exposed to the same spaces, we become unaware of its influence. It is when the familiar is disrupted that we react – we become aware and alert.

BLANKBOOK is designed outside the standard formats to spark curiosity and to be that special space, your room.

BLANKBOOK is created by hand to be able to use waste paper and embrace a variation of formats and finishes. Each book is one of a kind. The material and techniques are carefully selected to fulfill a purpose, whether it is to protect from wear and tear or to envoke a specific sensation.

BLANKBOOK is a multi-sensory experience; the sound of the paper as you turn the page or press your pen against it, the smell and the tactility of the material, the visual impressions and the mental taste of freedom to be able to express yourself.

BACKGROUND STORY

BLANKBOOK was initiated in 2021 as a part of a MA Visual Communication project at Konstfack, School of Arts, Crafts and Design: Language of the Book, Volume I-III. The project aims to examine the communicative space inherent in the structural features of a book; the spine, the pages, the surfaces, the attachment in sequences and the protection for transportation and storage. Books speak a sensory and conceptual language and its materialisation can take many forms. Inevitably it is an investigation of the underpinning economic, aesthetic, environmental and intellectual considerations in the book production grid. The volumes collects the explorations of the spatial, tactile and conceptual reading experience that the book offers.

The first volume: Narracube – Proof-of-Principles-Prototypes highlight the construction of a book as an active and visible element of communication rather than a silent and neutral support for ink. It was rewarded with the price Ung Svensk Form in 2022 and was exhibited in eight different design- and cultural spaces in Sweden during a year.

The second volume: Page Poetry is a series of Artists Books. The structure of the pages is the narrative of the book, the drama of the page is unfolded as the reader sets of the movement by paging.

The third and final volume: BLANKBOOK is an invitation to explore how the format of the book influences our interaction made available as notebooks. The ten different spaces each suggest different uses.