Darağaç_Book
Design Studio, Collaboration
16,5×23,5CM. 142 Pages
2016
Darağaç_Book is a documented account of works and co-created productions undertaken by the Darağaç Art Collective in Umurbey, İzmir, between 2016 and 2019. The book collects texts by Zeynep Yavuzcezzar, editor, and works by Borga Kantürk, Mert Yavaşça, and Güzden Varınlıoğlu, as textual commentaries on the collective's inter-disciplinary activities. As both document and artifact, the book crosses textual and pictorial accounts in a bid to actualize the community-driven ethos of the collective.
The book measures 16.5 cm by 23.5 cm, where tactile and visual coherence first manifests through conscious materiality. The book paper is uncoated since it has been printed on book paper, giving precedence to the rough, organic tone that is a testament to the collective's bottom-up approach to its activities. Typographic elements also reinforce this dualism: Turkish material is set in Inter, a clear and legible sans-serif type, while English sections are set in IBM Plex Mono, a monospaced type evoking technical precision. This opposition quietly replicates the convergence of local engagement and global conversation in the collective's work.
The layout's composition is derived from Umurbey's map distilled into lines, anchoring a geographic identity in the visual language of the book. This cartographic milestone situates the collective's works in a specific location and metaphorically charts the interdependence of its collaborations. The broken, yet co-creative organization mirrors the dynamic, non-linear development of pieces of art documented in the pages of the book. By writing the spatial logic of the neighborhood into the form of the book, the design is a continuation of the collective's site-specific work, where place and practice blur together.
As an object, Darağaç_Book illustrates the commitment of the Darağaç Collective to shared processes and context-oriented narrative.
LANGUAGE: Turkish & English
EDITOR: Zeynep Yavuzcezzar
TEXT: Borga Kantürk, Mert Yavaşça, Güzden Varınlıoğlu
TYPEFACES: IBM Plex Mono by Mike Abbing, Inter by Rasmus Andersson
PRINTING AND BINDING: A4 Ofset, İstanbul
PRINT RUN: 500
