THE SOCIAL CONTRACT

As part of my Master’s Degree program, I wrote and designed 2 hardcover books for my year-long thesis project called The Social Contract. These books were selected to be featured in the inaugural edition of Art in Book — a publication celebrating the best book designs in the world. Additionally, the books were chosen to feautre in a group design show at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

Published Master’s Degree Thesis Books.

I constructed a hardcover slipcase to house both books.

The entire project is handcrafted. No commercial printing technique or external vendor was used.

Both books are hand bound in traditional book cloth.

I applied book ribbon and page markers.

End sheets featured the grid system used for the interior pages and are hand-scored.

Interior pages are French-folded and include printing on the fore-edge.

The inside of the French-folded interior pages include a custom illustrated pattern.

The last page of the book includes a pull-out infographic of all identity categorization terms used in the book.

A Year-Long Process.

I spent 1 year researching, planning, writing and creating these books. I was drawn to the book On the Social Contract, by Genevan philosopher, Jean Jacques Rousseau which prompted me to research the topic of political and social revolutions.

Rousseau’s original text was written in the 18th century, but I found many similarities about identity classification in modern day literature — especially within news reporting.

Subtle details of my thesis books include: a meticulous grid system based off the proportion of newspapers, color palettes derived from 18th century art and internal pages that are printed on bible paper which are French-folded allowing for fore-edge printing.

More details about the research and production of these books can be seen below.