Notes on Book Design. Formal Settings

How form shapes function: a fascinating romp through the ins and outs of book design.

This volume gathers a collection of 50 texts on book design written by designers Siri Lee Lindskrog and Amanda-Li Kollberg of Berlin-based graphic and type design studio Formal Settings. The texts are based on a selection of books from the private collection of the Hopscotch Reading Room, a conceptual bookstore and event space in Berlin. Each text centers on a single book from the collection, examining its visual and tactile elements–from materials to layout to binding to typography. The essays explore the role and potential of books through the lens of design, mapping what their physical forms communicate about their content. Lindskrog and Kollberg draw parallels between each book as a design object and the cultural movements, political landscapes and economic conditions under which they were created. The 50 texts are paired with an introduction by Formal Settings, a foreword by Hopscotch Reading Room and an afterword in which designer, author and educator Prem Krishnamurthy offers additional framing and perspective to the project.