Design and production of a hardback artist's book and an accompanying exhibition.
Curious is a self-initiated project by my regular collaborator Susanna Edwards, exploring the world of microscopy (the study of the world through microscopes) through the eyes of an artist rather than a scientist. The project culminated in an exhibition and book publication in early 2010 after many years' development. I was asked to design the book and exhibition layout.
The final book is a hardback, landscape A4 format, with an image-led design. Content was divided into three distinct areas – a central section of full colour glossy images on glossy paper, book-ended by two sections of diary texts and essays in a spot silvery-grey colour on uncoated stock.
The traditional typeface Caslon was used to hark back to microscopy's 18th century roots, balanced with a modern monospace font to avoid pastiche. Headlines 'shrink' into body text in a subtle reference to miscoscopic enlargement. A long diary section intersperses text and image in a looser format, contrasting with the image section which uses full bleed and a strict grid to make the most of the stunning imagery.
Part of the project was designing the exhibition layout and signage. Again the focus was on large-scale imagery, supported by a shorter version of the project diary and ten original microscopes from the Science Museum's collection.
The exhibition runs until July 2010 at the Hunterian Museum, London.