Japanese Textiles

This morning I pulled this elegant little book from the shelf and was reminded how book design turns ideas into objects.

The book is called Japanese Textiles (日本の布) and published by MUJI Books.

The cover is empty white, but the lower 2/3 are wrapped in an additional patterned strip of paper resembling a tenugui.

What makes it such a clever design is that the “cloth” protects the cover where you hold the book, like a real tenugui would.

But it gets better because the first photo-essay in the book echoes how this particular tenugui pattern (the one on the cover) was made.

First by cutting a stencil. Then laying and affixing it to the cloth. Then dying, rinsing and drying it.

The book is instructional, though not a how-to manual.

It inspires interest and care in the artisanship of Japanese cloth-dying by way of beautiful imagery of the process. From washing/drying the long bolts of white cotton that form the base material, to the artisans in workshop patterning and dying, to the finished goods being used by thoughtful consumers.

This is excellent book design. Thanks Toyomi Sato! ありがとう！

https://www.behance.net/gallery/73853945/Japanese-Textile-2-Book-Design