Thesis Book Story: John Caserta

My thesis was a reaction to the speed of society—questioning the assumption that the chief attribute of technology was velocity. I generated projects that either brought awareness to the benefits of inactivity (pauses, silence) or altered the time taken to produce, capture, or display design work. 

I had been working primarily in interaction design and had never designed a book before going to graduate school. After many models, process books, and mishaps over the previous two years, the thesis book was a chance for me to design and produce a “real” book. 

Take Your Time splits the thesis into chapters that combine writings, references, project documentation and snapshots of everyday observations. I made a website and custom video player to house the digital projects and videos of printed work, which were designed to complement each other.

The cover is ink-jet canvas, left mostly white to collect residue and marks from adjacent books on the shelf. The interior pages are laser-printed on two different papers, hand-bound with cold glue and two ribbons for bookmarks. I made two copies: one is with me at The Design Office, and the other is at the Yale library. Sarah Gifford, Tracy Jenkins, and I were in the studio super early during those last two months. I benefitted greatly from their feedback, as well as that of my adviser, Bethany Johns.