Taking a break to write in here over the designs I’ve run into lately. I’ve been on a bit of a book design high as of late. I ran into the designs of Wang Zhi Hong a few weeks ago and became enamored with his simple layering and minimal use of color.

A Drop of the Hard Stuff

Ways of Seeing (read this freshman year of university, changed my life)

The Ten Directions are but One Thought

A Clock-work Orange

After seeing a lecture of Chipp Kidd on how he approaches book design, something that he said stuck with me. While much is to be gained by e-books: ease, convenience, portability, something is definitely lost: tradition, a sensual experience, the comfort of thingy-ness, a little bit of humanity. This to me explains why e-readers are lacking in the things that matter to me: the experience of page turning, measuring your progress, flipping through the thickness of the book, etc. (and also why i prefer my magazines as solid page-turners and not as websites).