ALBERT
book
masters graduate project
Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design
2014
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hardcover book in 4 copies
bound with black canvas
blind embossed title
size: 21,5 x 22,5 cm
136 pages
ofset paper
digital print
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Homage to my late Grandfather, experimenting with graphic design and typography. Lacking personal memories myself, the act of remembering is made possible via his loved ones. The memories of my mother and Grandmother are bound in this book, in which words describing his personality also visually reflect on the content.
ALBERT
ALBERT
My grandfather passed away when I was 2 years old. I only have a few memories of him, feelings really, that I would use to try to delineate him in my mind, without much success. In spite of the fact that my Mother and Grandmother would tell me stories about him, the information obtained was never enough to evoke his personality and character. The lack of personal memories and the desire to get closer to him has led me to the decision to create a book about him as my graduate project.
THE CREATION OF THE BOOK
How could I possibly remember someone if I don't have any personal memories? I had to find a way. On one hand, I decided to use my own visual language: graphic design and typography. On the other, I decided to build memories from the memories of my Grandfather’s loved ones, - my Mother (his daughter) and my Grandmother (his wife). This is how we all became part of the act of remembering.
THE METHOD OF THE BOOK
I felt it was important to create a special and personal method to process my mother, and my Grandmother’s memories. I collected information about the personality of my Grandfather with the help of a series of associative questions, such as Light or shadow, Active or passive? Straightaway, the method proved to be useful not only for me but also for them, as it was a uniquely different way of remembering. The method brought about clear-cut answers to my questions.
SUBJECTIVITY
I find it important to emphasize that my purpose was not to recreate or reconstruct him, as that would be impossible. With the creation of this experimental book, I merely wanted to produce something that can be connected to his memory, something that would conserve the traces of his personality. I also wanted to be able to see his character through the eyes of his loved ones. This book is the subjective remembrance of the three of us. The project wishes to highlight the personal and intimate nature of our memories.
STRUCTURE
The questions are posed about the same person but the answers are different. This is because of the subjective nature of memories. When creating the book, my aim was to present the two points of view, the impressions of the two people as equal. The two people remembering have a sign in the top right corner of the book; X and XX, for my Mother and my Grandmother respectively. After one spread with a questions come the answers, created in a playful, visual way. When my Mother and Grandmother gave the same answers, one spread shows the graphics. When they gave different answers there are two spreads, one spread smaller than the other. In this case, both answers are shown at the same time. Pages with the questions have a nice blue color that brightens at the end of the book. It reflects on the fact that the act of remembering caused some kind of dissolution in me.
My Grandmother passed away a year after the completion of the book.
