Prototypes on Prototypes

I’ve found that making a book — especially one intended to be a physical object requires a lot of prototyping. It’s hard to judge exactly what something looks like and feels like just looking at it on a screen. Is the type too big? Too small? Are margins comfortable without thumbs getting in the way of the content? Are spreads laid out correctly? What’s the width of the spine? How might it feel using different types of binding?

The original approach for Context Window was to use a wire-bound format but with a wrap-around cover. After prototyping this using the laser cutter and one of the binding machines I have in the studio, the format felt interesting. Later that evolved to a more polished Swiss binding instead of wire, but cost and complexity nixed that since I don’t have the equipment to do that myself (yet).

This was also before I decided that the book would be better if worked with an outside partner to produce it. This is where the reality of production costs forced an entire re-think — and where producing the first edition more like a newspaper than a traditional book became an experiment of its own.

What’s in the works now are two further editions in entirely different formats — a small perfect-bound edition, and a one-off cloth-covered hardcover with a dust jacket. That second one’s just for me, probably.

The first edition is already over 60% sold out which is kind of wild. A big thanks to everyone who bought a copy and/or helped get the word out. As copies are arriving, I hope people find something interesting in the content that takes them on their own journey.