Artists' books often play with the idea of materiality and structure of the book, pushing the boundaries of what 'is' and 'is not' a book. These appear as design features- the pieces of the book and its construction that make it unique and interesting. Some examples of design features that can be employed include pop-up books, structure books, miniaturization, different binding styles, unique paper materials or dyeing processes, the utilization of mixed media, and letterpress printing. It should be noted that these design features are not mutually exclusive. An artist book can implement as many or as few design features as the artist wishes.
A great example of design features in our collection is 2020: A Fiasco, by Todd. M. Thyberg (Angel Bomb Press, 2023). It is a structure book in the form of a dumpster which houses a letterpress printed booklet and several letterpress pieces of 'trash' depicting events that took place in the year 2020 like the California wildfires and COVID-19.
This guide provides a sampling of the design features used in our artists' books to help give a better idea of what you might find in our holdings. If you would like to learn more about the different design features seen in the artists' books we have, you can search our holdings on UMD Discover or contact us!
