Reading is like cycling, it needs a certain balance, order and direction. The research reviews the history and future of ‘the book’ as a medium. The structures of diverse religious books, other non-linear books and new media are reflected upon to design new interpretations of the book in a periodical of multiple parts. This edition comprises different viewpoints on Mary Devotion, its connection to religion and the role of women in society. It is intended, and can evolve further, as a platform where the participant interacts and discuss social issues. 
     My contribution to the (graphic)content is a personal research on the topic that took place in my surroundings, in tradition with the family heritage.

The publication aims to enlarge the interaction of the user with the content through several design parameters. In my presentation, I will set out the used text-image relations and grid systems, which were of importance to design and shape the periodical in micro levels and macro levels, based on non-linearity and navigation. The research results in a renewed, interactive and interlinked construction of the book, in which navigation is the key element.


Video of ISSUES no.1

Center for Contemporary Art Maastricht

Stichting Hedah, Center for Contemporary Art Maastricht is an artist initiative that offered a stage for current and international developments in the field of visual arts. The center has functioned as the missing link within the cultural institutions of Maastricht, with the Bonnenfanten-museum and galleries on the one hand. Attention has been paid to forms of art that are not so easy shown in the regular exhibition circuit, Hedah searched the fringes, often with a confrontation between different disciplines. This ranged from audiovisual installations, lectures, experimental projects, discussions or performances, to work by (young) artists from local and abroad.
     Due to the changing times, another subsidy climate and the need to conform to certain social relevance, it was no longer possible for the foundation to meet its goals. As a result, the foundation has abolished in December 2015.

From my interest as a member of the board and as a designer, a number of questions raised:
• How can we, as a board, deal best with the raw material that shows the history of this initiative?
• Can we find a method to make the archive insightful to a wider audience that stimulates interaction with the material?
• How would you, through digitization, give the archive a broader commitment and meaning?
• And how could you translate this back into a book?

This dual transfer from physical to digital and backward, I find a fascinating research trip. I have collected and digitized the material in cooperation with other employees in order not to lose this history. We have used scanners to maintain the authenticity of the documents as much as possible. In addition to this book, a digital environment has been created in which the interested public can explore the archive. Maybe it is possible in the future to using entered tags and parameters to construct a book.

In addition, a balance between the original and generated image has been sought and minimized in the design.

Some of the parameters have been investigated for this book:
1. Tags, the documents are encoded on a number of keywords that indicate and assign categories (intuitively, substantively or formally).
They stimulate the interaction of the audience with the material.
2. Grid structures; different grid structures can be selected
3. Scale; can be applied
4. The angle in which the documents are implied in the grid; this is ideal between 5 and 25 degrees (if the angel is too big the grid structure fails, if the angle is too small the grid structure is too visible).

Each new entry of tag, grid, scale and angle gives a completely different result. Therefore, no one book will be the same. The book consists of a succession of left and right pages and is held together as a whole. The left and right pages interact with each other, in this standing A4 book on the horizontal plane. Despite the minimal design, this can also be the identity of the book and also extended in other formats such as a A1 poster, A6 postcards, and various envelopes in which multiple corners are visible through the folding structure.

Specifications:
Format
A4
400 pages
Digital print
Inside
90 gr2 mc paper, satin finish
Cover
600 gr2 paper, matt