The Discovery of China

And the discovery of creative commons 🙂

Designing and illuminating Jan van der Puttens The Discovery of China De ontdekking van China was a very special project. There was a problem; there was no budget for photos (or drawings for that matter, but since this was a book on travelling through China, photos where more appropriate). So… I used my friend’s and family photos, I roamed the internet and for appropriate creative common and public domain photos, I used candy wrappers and beautiful old stamps to create a scrapbook feel. This approach went perfect with the story of a travelling teen discovering China and its history. The idea fit the book perfectly (making it possible to add a little snapshot of the farmer who discovered the clay soldiers, for instance, or a x-ray of the small Chinese feet) and Jan was very happy with the idea and even incorporated the scrapbook idea into the text.

It took two full pages to thank everybody that helped making the book as beautiful as it turned out! 

I made this book way back when I was working as a bookdesigner at Het Vlakke Land (Flat Land) a real nice Dutch Design Company. In the years I worked there I made many book in all kinds and shapes. Novels, strange novels (with 52 different typefaces, for instance), children’s books, non fiction books and photo books. Zen and the art of Bowmanship is also one I made in that period. These two are my favourite and I loved working on them. Oh… and the one with the bear, but that is a different story…

Published by tutti.
x Close

Like Us On Facebook