It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon when I was walking towards X Initiative to complete my assignment. I smelled the beautiful almost-autumn air when I discovered that it was almost lunch time. I thought to myself that I must get the assignment done and do a complete job of it. So, as I was walking towards X Initiative I thought about how much I love art and how I would love to use different book styles to express my individual design concept, which is still in progress. I entered the book store and saw how small it was and how empty it was. I became very intrigued by the nostalgia that was in the room. I was unable to have some alone time this weekend because of the constant needs of my family that needed to be met. However, I found this assignment to be very relaxing but rewarding because it allowed me to calm down and enjoy a beautiful day with nature on a Sunday afternoon. After I left X Initiative I was enjoying the fresh air and when I remembered I forgot to take pictures, I ran into Jennifer Moy and was pleasantly surprised by how wonderful she looked. lol. I did not take pictures because I had my class at church at 3 pm and was not going to jeopardize being late. Then, I stopped off to get lunch and was blessed by the conversation I had with the man at the counter at the convenience store. I suggested for him to take a walk during his break. His reaction was “I’m stuck here the entire day.” Then he laughed and wished for me to have a good day.
When I entered the book store I was attracted to one specific book entitled “Everything But the Coffee Learning About America from Starbucks” because I did not have a cup of coffee for three days. I had a craving for coffee and when I saw this book, I thought to myself “damn, I want coffee. lol.” The place was so small and quiet that I could hear people talking from the other side of the building. There was an ambiance about the place that I became attracted to the color schemes of the books and could not help but pick up almost every book. The exhibit was the best part of my day. I felt as though I could live there because of the variety of books there was to chose from. After taking notes of all 6 publications that interested me, a man approached me and told me that he has published many books that were sold at Printed Matter in his kitchen. The conversation was very short because I wanted to make sure I did not go over time while browsing through all the books.
Six publications that interested me:
- Everything But the Coffee Learning About America from Starbucks written by Bryant Simon. Published by the University of California Press. The cover has a coffee stain which gave the impression of a very rustic but unique style to the book. The use of brown on the front and back cover was very well thought out and a style I would like to incorporate in my design of the final book. When I opened the book, it felt very novel-esque because of the use of language. What really interested me, though, was when I put down the book and no one else was there to pick it up after me. I love my space and it was refreshing that no one wanted to rush me into putting the book down.
- Loveless by Mike McGonigal. Copyright 2007. The cover was beautiful. It consisted of magenta and black and blended very nicely. There was only one book left and I felt very special to have the last book in my hand. The book, I am assuming, is very popular if there is only one book left. In the top right corner, there was a faded out guitar that went completely with the color scheme of the cover of the book.
- Time and Place: Rio De Janeiro 1956-1964 by Paulo Venancio Filho and Annika Gunnaisson. Of course the cover attracted me because of the different shades of green. Green is my favorite color right before purple. I looked at the table of contents and found that the book had biographies and personal stories which gave me the impression that the book is very personalized and somewhat of an autobiography of the author. As I read through the book, I felt as though I was a character in the book and because of my reaction, this was one of my favorites from the exhibit. The black and white photographs also added to the feel of the book and gave me the impression of looking at a photo album.
- Siteless 1001 Building Forms by Francois Blanciah. The cover was folded in and of a thicker paper which probably was coated paper, I believe. This book was one of the least popular because there were many books of this publication left. However, it was my second favorite because of the use of color. It attracted me because when I sketch, I think in terms of black and white and for the editor to think in terms of color is one quality I admire in an artist. The shapes on the cover were very geometrical and reminded me of the Matrix movie when I went to go see it in the movie theater.
- Double Game by Sophie Calle. The book had a hard cover with no title. I opened the book to find the title. What interested me most was the ribbon that was glued to the spine and was used to close the book. The book did not open all the way but still interested me. The book reminded me of a diary I had when I was little. The diary I had was yellow and was 6 1/2 inches by 5 inches. The cover has a woman in a blue and white dress with butterflies and she has a Siamese cat on her shoulder.
- A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit. The title at first attracted me because of my Christian background. The title has an earthy feel because of the mix of gold, black, orange and tan colors. The spine of the book had the most interesting mix of these colors because of the hierarchy of colors. It started at the bottom: first there was black which took up 10% of the spine, then orange, gold and mixed very elegantly with tan. I did not get the chance to open it but I still consider it in my top three favorite books from the exhibit.
no i didn’t. lols!
Thanks Rita lols! Did you check out that front yard sale that was on that same block?