introduction

Fifty books/50 days is project in creativity, book design, and artistic production. It is inspired by the AIGA's 50 books/50 cover awards (and subsequent show). I am a novice book artist, a tenure-track graphic design educator, and a design research. Book arts comprise the creative discovery aspect of my work in the School of Art and Design, at East Carolina University, where I teach.

I have deep love and passion for the book, from highly-refined, beautifully-designed books that are mass manufactured and involve hordes of editors, designers, and pressmen, to those books that are made lovingly by hand by a singular artist. As one interested in the form of the book but yet inexperienced in creating many structures, I decided that I needed to focus intently on simply creating and generating work. The result is 50 books/50 days.

This is my plan: to create one book a day for 50 consecutive days. I will focus on exploring structure rather than content. All books will be created using existing materials and found objects. I will not buy any new materials for the project. Each day I will document my work via photography, and this blog will serve as a chronicle of my experiences.

I had originally intended to perhaps explore 5 structures 10 ways, or 10 structures 5 ways, or some such form, but as I began to surf through my books on book making, I discovered that there were easily at least 50 structures that I had not explored, or were worthy of a day or two of work.

And so, let the project begin.