Unveiling inspiration with a White Gloves tour
By Ellie Dumigan | 7 December 2023
In the ever-changing world of art and design, inspiration can often be found in the most unexpected places. Recently, a group of JMC Design students had the opportunity to embark on a white gloves tour of the artist book collection at the State Library of Queensland, helped organised by the Applied Creativity (AC) team who attended as well. This tour inspired the students and the AC team with inspiration to fuel future designs, workshops and creative projects.
Artist’s books are a unique blend of art and literature, where the books become the canvas for creative expression. Both the students and the AC team are interested in pushing this boundary of what an artist book could mean using new and evolving technology, such as AR, VR and other digital methods.
The book is the canvas. This collage showcases how artists utilise books as vessels for their art and messages.
It was an amazing opportunity to be able to look at the library’s artist book collection up close and have experienced staff guide us throughout the tour. The White Gloves Tour gave us lots of inspiration for the artist book that we are going to create for an upcoming project. Thank you to Joan Bruce and the SLQ staff for the experience.
The Edge provides access to a range of creative resources that the JMC students considered incorporating into their work, one such example is through innovative laser cutting techniques. The Edge aims to bridge the gap between traditional art forms and contemporary design, supporting this new era of technological advances in the artist world.
A lot of the stand-out books in the collection focused on combining writing, typography and illustration to tell stories. Many were focused on a social issue that the artists themselves had faced or their own lived experiences and passions. The collection also houses artist's books that were a body of work highlighting original manuscripts, drawings and letters.
An assortment of excerpts from old letters, manuscripts and religious texts found within the State Library’s Collection.
Scroll down to enjoy some more photos of this tour,
If this blog ignited your curiosity you can book your own White Gloves tour of the artist book collection at the State Library of Queensland. Put on your own white gloves and interact with remarkable creations of the past.
https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/whats-on/artists-books-white-gloves-experience
Or why not explore the Open Lab resources to create your own designs?
A representation of the combining of typography and art to create a meaningful artwork.
a collage of some old pages, a large focus on typography design was used throughout history to create interest in a page.
Going to LVL4 SLQ for the white glove artist books tour was a fantastic experience. I enjoyed the different books, their styles, colours, different typefaces, and the vast range of time periods they came from. It was cool to see that the old-school handcrafted printing can match up to modern day printers. I'd give it a 10/10.
Two pages from the same book by the same artist. These pages demonstrate the use of type and layout by artists to create an art piece that sends a message.
These posters highlight how artist use illustration, graphics and type to respond to social issues or their own personal experiences.
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