PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Thresholds 52: Disappearance explores the elusive topic of disappearance through a selection of scholarly papers, creative essays, and artistic projects. Together, they showcase how art, architecture, and related disciplines negotiate the material, spatial, and symbolic implications of a disappearance.
We contended with the idea of disappearance throughout each stage of the design process. The overall visual elements are a diffusion dither combined with a blurred background to create the effect of the text moving in and out of visibility and the idea of a tombstone, referencing the ghost-like quality of the background images.
As the design moved to the cover, we wanted to include more exaggerated versions of something coming into view at different moments. We used the dither/blur effect on a sparkly cover stock, which we then embossed with the word "disappearance." The emboss and sparkle make the title appear and recede in different lighting conditions.
We were interested in how these ideas could play out in a system. This resulted in color coding the different types of contributions: peer reviewed essays are brown; creative and art-based contributions are periwinkle; and pieces that contend with disappearance at a more conceptual (and less human) scale are black.
The book itself has a tactility that rhymes with the ideas within. The paper is toothy and super absorbent, it almost feels as if it could disintegrate at any moment. The cover is shiny and textural with a foil stamp that runs from the front to the back.
BOOK INFORMATION
Trim Size: 6½ × 9½ inches
Number of Pages: 220 pages
Binding Method: Smythe Sewn
Paper: Cover: Fedrigoni Sirio Pearl 350gsm; Interior: Munken Print White 1.5 100gsm
Typefaces: GT America, Suisse Works, Rhymes Display
CREDIT INFORMATION
Creative Director: Ella Gold
Art Director: Ella Gold
Book Designer: Ella Gold
Jacket/Cover Designer: Ella Gold
Illustrator:
Photographer: Josh Schaedel
Picture Editor:
Production Director:
Production Coordinator:
Production Artist:
Other Credits:
Thresholds 52: Disappearance
Category
Book
Description
Winner - AIGA 50 Books | 50 Covers of 2024
Book Title: Thresholds 52: Disappearance
Design Firm/Agency: Studio Ella Gold
Publisher: MIT Press
Author/Editor: Samuel Dubois and Susan Williams
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