2015
In collaboration with: Kin Mun, Verena Hahn, Megin Hayden and Frank Hemmekam.
The D.O.P.E. Project—short for Details of Printed Essence—is a collaborative initiative by five students from the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague (Netherlands), developed as a critical response to traditional methods of cataloguing entries in the ‘Best Book Design’ competition.
Challenging conventional hierarchies, the group curated a personal selection of over 50 books, aiming to construct their own "Top 10" and present them in a reimagined catalogue format. This process led to the creation of several thematic nominations (or chapters), each reflecting a key criterion identified through collective analysis.
The catalogue features high-contrast scans of selected books, used intentionally to capture the essence of each title—its structure, grid, and content. This visual approach was further enhanced by the choice of full-colour Risograph printing and a diverse mix of paper stocks, including highly absorbent paper. The absorbency allowed the ink to sink into the pages, metaphorically sealing the essence of each book within the catalogue itself.