Structure of the Visual Book (Expanded Fourth Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Keith Smith is a classic for book artists
Review: I recommended this book to another artist interested in working with the book form and when I came to amazon.com to send a direct link I couldn't believe there is only one review for this book. This is a classic in thinking conceptually about the structure and sequencing of a book, as well as thinking conceptually about what a "book" is as an artifact and an artform.

Although the text is a little intuitive for linear readers at times, anyone who wants to explore the book as an artform must take a look at Keith Smith's work.

Rating:
Summary: Ahead of the curve
Review: This volume, rather than just providing dry (or gluey) how-to instructions on how to MAKE a book, offers readers new ways to THINK about what a book IS, how to make a book expressive beyond the reader's expectations. Smith is clearly a deep thinker, but not without a sense of humor. He is able to rip apart the structure of the book by examining our preconceptions, and he is then able to assemble a new vision of what the word BOOK means, and he is THEN able to draw on his impressive skills to actually assemble the book that serves up that vision, or to show practitioners how that can be done.

Frankly, I was blown away, first by his ideas and then when I read the copyright date. I can only imagine where he's been going since the '70s!

As a letterpress printer, as a photographer and user of alternative processes and media, I strongly recommend this piece to people who need a little shaking up, or who simply want to be amused and entertained.