joey’space

 Experimental Formats

compiled and edited by Roger Fawcett-Tang, introduction by Chris Foges, section introductions by John O’Reilly

Experimental Formats: Books, Brochures, Catalogues

In around 1455, Johann Gutenberg watched as pages of the Bible rolled off the first Western press using movable metal type. He may have realised something of the significance of the event but he could hardly have anticipated the situation we would find ourselves in slightly more than 500 years later. More new books are published every day than Gutenberg saw in a lifetime; magazines on every subject under the sun and brochures promoting every conceivable product are churned out daily in their millions. Standardised production of printed materials - books, magazines, pamphlets, brochures - has allowed the spread of ideas, defined cultures and economies, catalysed conflict and propagated belief systems: in short, shaped our world.

Improvements in printing technology have kept pace with demand for print. But while, for largely practical reasons, there has been a general trend towards uniformity and slick consistency in the physical production of published materials, alongside has run a healthy tradition for experiment with the printed form - experiment with structure, shape, materials, function - creating pieces of print which stand out on their physical merits alone.