C:\Bob\Run
Construction
  MAS110
FUNDAMENTALS OF COMPUTATIONAL MEDIA DESIGN
     
Ambitious Beginnings

hand lettered, taped for switches
  The project had more ambitious beginnings than results. I began by carefully hand-lettering the Shel Silverstein poem "Alice" onto foamcore in a large serif font. Each page had a hole through the center for viewing the Nylon animations. I proceeded to use copper tape on the bottom edges to be used as switches. The Nylon program would check repeatedly which switches were activated, and therefore the page the reader was on. This would be used to decide what animation to play.

However, the software didn't want to work, I had trouble getting 6 switches to work (tried to use two of the analog ones as digital, so non-zero is 1), and it just wasn't happening.

Compromise

covered text, hand-lettered
  It initially made me very sad to have to close up the book, embedding the Nylon board and Hotpants within it. I bound it carefully, covering the edges with fabric over adhesive-backed foamcore, and hand-lettered the serif font on the cover in gold ink. The edge of the fabric dips in around the binding at the corners, just like an old-fashioned cloth-backed hardcover.
Appreciation

uneven signatures
  The slight off-set of the edges brings out the most endearing characteristic. Like a real paperback, the "signatures" are just slightly imperfect, with a rough texture to the fingers. A small notch was cut from the side for the power cord.

The Hotpants display is slightly recessed from the cover, protecting it from prying hands and scratches from everyday use.
     
   
     
Direction
 

Home
Inspiration
Construction
Function
Documentation
Publicity
Future

skd at mit dot edu