The Nakajima Book

Article by FPO (For Print Only) / Under Consideration (Armin Vit):

"This front-to-back, back-to-front monograph for Japanese designer Hideki Nakajima is a behemoth in both size and production values. I can't even imagine what the process it must have taken to bind 1,400-plus pages and what's even greater is that it still achieves a sense of softness and delicacy that in perfect-bound or Smythe sewn form would have probably looked like a boring encyclopedia. Designer Nivard Thoes explains: "The book is divided into ten categories and can be read from back to front and vice versa. One side of the book includes a hardcover, the other cover is formed by ten separate semi-transparent layers." By looking at just the images you don't get to see the transparent pages right away, but once it's pointed out the effect is subtle. Nice to see a collaboration between two designers (Nakajima and Thoes) work out so well." Apr.07.2009

— Published in 'Graphic Design Inspirations II', by Slanted Magazine & DAAB publishing, Germany - 2008.
— FPO (For Print Only) by 'UnderConsideration LLC'. / U.S.A, 2009.
— Exhibited at 'Chinese Contemporary Book Design Exhibition', Shenzhen, China 2006.

SPECIFICATIONS:

CLIENT
Dalian University of Technology Press, China
DATE
July 2005
DESIGN CREDITS
Art Direction, Design: Nivard Thoes (WX-Design) Photography, Artwork ©: Hideki Nakajima
PRINT CREDITS
Production: WX-Design / Sasa Lau
Editor: Nivard Thoes / WX-Design
Publisher: Dalian University of Technology Press, China.
Print & Binding: Shenzhen Meiyaqi Printing Co., Ltd.
Distribution: Shenzhen Hightone Book Co., Ltd.

DIMENSIONS: WIDTH × HEIGHT × DEPTH
265 mm (10.43 in) × 200 mm (7.8 in)
PAGE COUNT
1,484
PRINT METHOD
Offset Lithography
NUMBER OF COLORS
4-Color CMYK
BINDING
Japanese stab binding (side stitch)
OTHER
Paper folding technique, usage of multiple paper types

A fist thick Monograph (+ 750 pages) on renowned Japanese graphic designer Hideki Nakajima, containing an overview of his oeuvre. The bilingual book is divided into ten categories and can be read from back to front and vice versa —the book has no front or back—. One side of the book is provided with a hardcover (dutch-board), The other cover is formed by ten separate semi-transparent layers. A dynamic grid provides freedom in composition and was inspired by his 'unfinished-project', a poster-series created by sampling previous versions constructing an interconnected ongoing process of layering. All elements in the book are created or inspired by significant characteristics of his work, resulting in an exemplary extension of the actual content.

www.nkjm-d.com/

Layout | Bilingual Typography

Spreads | Artwork by Hideki Nakajima