Behind The Print
Words from the designers ( Richard Bertetic & Charlotte Carlier )
Empowered by the confidence he entrusted to us, we present this visual essay as a complement to the photographic narrative encapsulated in Blacktop Memento.
As graphic designers, we often find ourselves afforded the opportunity to scrutinize and contemplate "artistic material" from a fresh vantage point—considering its sensitivity, intelligence, and sequential potential. Our craft revolves around accessing, decoding, and accentuating this material, and this forms the core essence of our creative pursuit.
In the collaborative exploration of the structural organisation of a photography book, we delved into its rhythmic construction. This involved scrutinising the interplay between texts and images, the visual dynamics among themselves, the balance within content and format, and, crucially, the mastery of printing and binding techniques. Our considerations were manifold, all geared towards delivering a product that remained true to Kevin's overarching vision.
Subsequently, we pondered on how to accentuate the evocative, painterly, and almost tangible nature of the photographs within this publication. Throughout our meticulous research in crafting this book, we grappled with questions about the narrative guiding the content.
It became imperative for us to isolate each printing CMYK channel to enhance the allure of the textures and compositions embedded in each frame of this series. Adopting a sequential system based on the three primary colors of four-color printing CMY (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow) and substituting the dominant tint with its fluorescent counterpart felt like an intuitive choice.
The culmination of this colorimetry endeavor is evident in this appendix, presented in grayscale to represent the dominant layer. This approach invites the reader to traverse Kevin's body of work and sensibilities with a renewed perspective.