even books

You don’t always have to read a book, either. You can just gaze at it. Local publishers and distributors Rainoff (Robert Milne and Sinisa Mackovic) know all about it. In the second installation in the lead up to the Sydney Design talk Why we love making books: ideas about unfettered self-expression (tomorrow night at Berta) we speak to Robert Milne about pages with pretty pictures.

What do you think when you hear the word ‘book’?’
RM: Automatically I think of art books more than any other. They are what I love and enjoy. Since they exist in such a large variety of formats with each design differing from the next, I see them as representation of the many elements that can make up a book.

What was the first book that made a big impact on you, either visually or story-wise?
RM: I remember growing up with lots of books around. I guess mostly kids story books. 
The Grug Books were definitely a childhood favourite. It wasn’t until later on that I actually started searching through some of the other books that were laying around the house and exploring the library in high school. There was a really amazing Charles and Ray Eames book that belonged to my Mum. I still have that one actually. Its saddle stitched and quite small, the pages have completely changed colour and it looks beautiful.

What led you to starting Rainoff Books?
RM: Rainoff began purely because Sinisa [Mackovic] and I wanted to publish our own books. We both have been collecting books and zines for a long time and it seemed like a project that would be fun and challenging. Having a shared interest for design and art also has allowed us to use Rainoff as a platform to explore and pursue our own creative freedoms, such as editing and designing the books ourselves. The name was generated through wordplay. Adding different words onto the end of ‘Rain’ to see what it sounded like. The reason for doing this is because we wanted an almost nonsense word that did not have a meaning previous to our use of it. So there could be no association with something else and hopefully when heard would be associated with us.

You have a small but considered suite of published and distributed publications. What guides you in your selections?
RM: Choosing an artist to publish is simply based on our own taste. We like to work with people that we admire and whose work we respect. A new publication that we are about to release later this year is with Conor O’Brien, a photographer that we admire greatly [pictured]. As we continue to release more publications in the future, we would like our catalogue to act as curated project itself, presenting a selection of artists that are related to each other in some way or another.
The publications and artists that we choose to distribute operates similarly to the way that we choose an artist to publish. Often these publishers and artists are presenting a very unique perspective on contemporary art and we felt that it was necessary for them to be available to the Australian market.

The talk seeks to explore, ‘ideas about unfettered self-expression’. Is self-expression ever really unfettered? What constraints do you frequently encounter?
RM: As an independent publisher the main constraint that we have with producing a new publication is with money. Since we are publishing artists works we try to present their work in the best and most complimentary form. Due to the high cost in production some of the ideas that we would like to achieve to do this aren’t always financially viable. There is a lot of communication between ourselves and the printer to work out ways that we can produce a publication that we believe successfully represents the artists work.

What do you like to read (personally)? Where is your favourite reading spot? And what do you most frequently drop on the pages of your books?
RM: I really like to read magazines and specific art / design journals. Along with appreciating the sense of design and aesthetic of a certain magazine or journal they often provide an interesting perspective on a range of subjects. If you look at something like Dot Dot Dot, 032c or Les Cahiers Purple, there is alway a large diversity in content which as a reader I find very enjoyable.

So, it’s pretty obvious we love reading books at the Even Books HQ. But we are not ignorant; we know books are not born in cabbage patches. So we were very excited to hear about this talk as part of Sydney Design 2010. It’s called Why we love making books: ideas about unfettered self-expression and will feature the lovely Rainoff boys, Suzanne of Boccalatte Press, Kernow Craig of the Rizzeria and Blood & Thunder, Joseph Allen Shea from Izrock and Monster Children, and Johanna Featherstone of Red Room Co. It’s on next Monday at Berta in the city; but we were impatient so we pestered some of the panel members for an early insight into their book-making minds. Here is the first installation thanks to Suzanne Boccalatte.

The description of the event asks the question: ‘What do you think when you hear the word ‘book’?’ What comes to mind for you?
SB: Sensuality, touch, ink, pages turning. In the hand, a personal space. Sex, basically, sex.

What was the first book that made a big impact on you, either visually or story-wise?
SB: I grew up with TV, so I can’t honestly remember childhood books I owned. But my mother devoured books and had some ancient copies (nineteenth century) copies of Dickens novels. They were green cloth with gold embossed on front, complete with picture plates (which were etchings in those days). I became obsessed with books much, much later in life and now I buy far too many.

What led you to starting Boccalatte?
SB: I am a self-taught graphic designer. I was working many moons ago in education and I was getting work designed by someone else, and I thought, hey I could do that. So I sent myself on a night course or two and learnt how to use design programs. It started from there. I become single minded and wanted to learn how to. I needed a business names and I thought, why not my name, it seemed more authentic than other names I was thinking up at the time.

The publications at Boccalatte range from childrens’ books (Fair Skin Black Fella) to art journals (News From Islands) and catalogues (Gallery A; I’m Worst at What I Do Best) and cultural compendiums (the Trunk Books). How does each book come about? And what is the first step you take when conceptualising their creation? Do you have a favourite area to work in?
SB: I have great, great clients in fact. Someone once said, that clients need to be smarter than you are and that’s what I seek out. I’m the dumb one in the equation. But as a designer you have to be dumb because questions give you the answers. And questions are what makes a good designer over a mediocre one and only can clients give answers. So I like to ask a lot of questions even before I start. Another nice quote from Einstein, “Highly developed spirits often encounter resistance from mediocre minds.” My favourite area is compelling cultural content— mainly arts and social interests and working with thinking, creative clients.

The talk seeks to explore, ‘ideas about unfettered self-expression’. Is self-expression ever really unfettered? What constraints do you frequently encounter when making books?
SB:Trunk Books is our only ‘self published’ book, so we had no parameters, that’s where the unfettered comes in. I bankrolled the book, so that was my biggest constraint, as print in Australia is way expensive.

The Sydney Design book is one of my current favourite works, we convinced Powerhouse Museum to do something unique and less ephemeral, no designer wants to see their work on the recycling heap. And we can’t really justify throw away brochures anymore. Information is readily available on iPhone apps, so the book had to be totally beautiful and pick-upable and we wanted people to keep it too. Our suggestion was a classic Penguin paperback and we commissioned writers and photo essays and I think it’s really worked. People are talking about it and that is a good thing.

Are you acquainted with the other bookmakers on the panel?
SB: Yes the lovely Johanna and I are collaborating together on other projects; poetry meets imagery. I love what Joseph does and he submitted some of his artists for Trunk Book Vol 1. He also introduced me to rest of panel. What an amazing bunch of creative and passionate souls. I love it.

In your spare time (if you have any!), what do you like to read? Where is your favourite reading spot? And what do you most frequently drop on the pages of your books?
SB: I don’t watch TV, that helps. I read read read. Now more than ever before.
I love a self-help books (true), non-fiction (not biographies), short stories (Carver is my favourite at the minute, as is A.M Holmes and Roald Dahl) and I am in love with McSweeneys books, in fact anything Dave Eggers does it fine by me).

I have about 20 books on the go at the moment.

And I am writing now too. I always thought I couldn’t write, being visual and all, but I tried it recently in the guise of a creative writing workshop and I loved it. Duck to water. The secret is to relax with it. Like all creativity really, drawing, writing, making — it’s a wonderful combination of trust, relaxation and enjoying what you do — it is often easier than you think. The trust allows you to get into “the zone” (and allowing yourself to get there is often a matter of giving yourself permission to do so). Well that’s what I’ve learnt anyways. I think it was Stephen King that said writing is like sex, you need to relax, not think and let nature takes its course. I like that.

I’m nearly finished writing a fairy tale. Now I just have to illustrate it, design it and publish it …

My fave reading spot is the lounge with my dog at feet. And I am very careful not to drop anything on the pages of my books, nor do to I fold corners back on pages. Books are for keeps!