Matters of Time
Editorial design, Print
January 2022
Adapted from Episode 443 from the podcast "99% Invisible", Matters of Time is a book that explores the history of timekeeping in 18th-century Britain.
The book is printed on metallic silver paper that resembles the body of a watch, and on neutral/grey paper which evokes the texture and materiality of archives. The covers and spreads consisting of secondary texts and images are designed as short sheets. The book is ring bound — a nod to the radiality and repetition of time — which indicates that the book has no beginning nor end and could be flipped through and read endlessly just like a timepiece. A designed book is a time-based medium.
︎︎︎ Role: designer, editor, bookbinder
︎︎︎ Dimension: 9 x 6 in
Editorial design
The book is printed on metallic silver paper that resembles the body of a watch, and on neutral/grey paper which evokes the texture and materiality of archives. The covers and spreads consisting of secondary texts and images are designed as short sheets. The book is ring bound — a nod to the radiality and repetition of time — which indicates that the book has no beginning nor end and could be flipped through and read endlessly just like a timepiece. A designed book is a time-based medium.
︎︎︎ Role: designer, editor, bookbinder
︎︎︎ Dimension: 9 x 6 in
Editorial design
Publication typography
Print design
Craftsmanship
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2a260c8f16c4e9dacf71ccb79120c73ec78aef88454f69746a5f08a5fec91416/Matters-of-Time_photo-docu_small_1.jpg)
The front and back covers are narrower than the content sheets, a design that also occurs at the chapter openings and in-book archives.
The documentation is deliberately photographed during the golden hour, a concept of time that is relevant to the selected secondary text in the book. The long shadows during the golden hour also conjure up the feel of a sundial.
The documentation is deliberately photographed during the golden hour, a concept of time that is relevant to the selected secondary text in the book. The long shadows during the golden hour also conjure up the feel of a sundial.
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e5590f527730165b66cd4e0b770c7c78d1b4fed50b2d27d1ab41bbf27f93d02f/Matters-of-Time_photo-docu_small_3.jpg)
Cover titles and details of the materiality of the book. The book is printed on metallic silver paper that resembles the body of a watch.
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/aa4018fc3cbdcfd2822e0f504dde0c500a05beca0e7510dc804b9f3424319219/Matters-of-Time_photo-docu_small_7.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8bd8b491fabb76b4b13282863334afe5ae7f861219380a0b1571ca158534907c/Matters-of-Time_photo-docu_small_2.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/009f522c3cd986cb999a285321dc3334600f5123d71888895b3965de8d4163b5/Matters-of-Time_photo-docu_small_4.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6b1a0af7315aa9c1d385c6cb3ce1c84c0d8ef8d529628c0e8f4ca392f4825395/Matters-of-Time_photo-docu_small_5.jpg)
The chapter opening is designed in the same way as the covers in long and short sheets.
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/834e44e9672f7be54dad54a9f079a9dc9ed8a48d1c6f919e480ad1b6b24047c0/Matters-of-Time_05_Chapter-opening.jpg)
Select spreads of the book. The archive collects British timepieces relevant to the podcast's subject matter, which is printed on a silver metallic short sheet, echoing the design of the front/back covers and chapter openings.
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c4712b8f688bb97554490fc7dcd4552d91e1197214d6643cf2910855662af29b/layered-two-scanned-spread_small.jpg)