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As co designer of the Rhode Island School of Design Yearbook, I wanted to defy the traditional formats and conceptions of a school yearbook. RISD is a design school, and it did not seem appropriate that the yearbook convey the school in a manner consistent with that of grade school or university. I wanted to come up with a concept that organized the book in a different way - - not by alphabetizing students by their name or their major (i.e. graphic design, industrial design, painting, etc). Today’s design world requires inter-disciplinary collaboration between different fields of design and then design with different sectors of economy. The concept looks into the future.

Concept: DAY and NIGHT - - playing on the ubiquitous nature of the all-nighter as an art/ design student. The theme of day & night carries the artistic imperative of appreciating things in every kind of light, of seeing from all angles and often in what appears to be opposing circumstances. But it also implies the natural rhythm of life and the certainty that comes from living an authentic life. There are two books, split into 12 hour segments (day or night). Each student chose one hour that they identified with the most, and was photographed during the day or during the night based upon their choice with a white or black backdrop as a reference to their choice. The students were given the opportunity to be creative with their photos and interact with the backdrop in a non-traditional way. The book is thus organized by time, showing a complete 24 hour student experience when both books have been looked through. The color palate for DAY is white and gold, gold coming from Apollo, the god of the day and a golden sun. The color palate for NIGHT was black and silver, silver coming from Diana, the goddess of the night and a silvery moon. The outside packaging is completely black, because a new day begins in darkness at midnight. It then opens to reveal a new day with an all white interior.

Offset printed on 10 color Heidelberg press, spot silver, spot gold, double hit of black, overall aqueous matte varnish. 512 pages. Will appear in April, 2010 issue of HOW magazine, International design awards issue.

Photographs by:
Jonathan Arena, Dylan Cyr, Tre Cassetta, Amanda Dandeneau, Andre Herrero

Designed in collaboration with Grace Jun '09 GD