Book design as a project students’ work of Educational Programme “Graphic design” of Borys Grinchenko University

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the review of student projects of the Department of Design of Borys Grinchenko University, which were carried out during 2019-2023. The exhibition “Opening a Book”, which lasted in the Museum of Books and Printing of Ukraine in March-April 2024, presented the works of the third-year students. The examples of implementation of educational tasks on creation of a holistic artistic image of a book, taking into account the influence of historical and artistic context, as well as stylistic, formal and conceptual solutions of the book’s space, are studied. The experience of similar exhibitions in Ukraine is analyzed in the context of formation of the modern culture of book art, the trends of development of book graphics, lettering and font in the book.

Objective of the study is to analyze the best students’ book projects and to highlight the methodology of teaching the discipline “Fiction Book Design” under the educational and professional program 022.00.01 “Graphic Design” of the first (bachelor’s) level at the Department of Design, Faculty of Fine Arts and Design, Borys Grinchenko University; to systematize the experience of co-authors in teaching the specified discipline and to outline a common vision of directions for implementation of book design in the graphic design professional education. The research is based on the methods of observation, experiment and systematization, which made it possible to structure the methodology of teaching the discipline “Fiction Book Design” and its application in the project activities of students. The art history context of the student projects is defined. Having analyzed the works that were presented at the exhibition “Opening the Book”, we traced the way of the most important components for successful implementation of a specific design project. The results of the study accumulate many years of experience of the co-authors, acquired in the process of teaching book composition, graphic techniques, handwritten font, calligraphy and outline a common vision of directions for the synthesis of these disciplines in the professional education of a graphic designer.

The development of publishing business in our country requires the constant involvement of high-class specialists in the field of design and artistic design of books. The great importance is attached to the issue of improving the quality of artistic design, illustration and pre-print preparation of book editions. Inheritance and development of the national school of book graphics is especially important for our time. That is why proficiency and ability to synthesize the traditional and digital graphic techniques, as well as the culture of working with typefaces - one of the most necessary tools of a graphic designer remain relevant in the design of fiction publications. The creative solutions, originality of interpretation of topics chosen by the students, figurative language, demonstrate the extraordinary thinking and creative level of the students. The acquired skills are important and valuable for further work in the field of book design. The set of tasks of the course contributes to improvement of professional training, makes it possible to successfully realize the creative ideas of a future specialist in the field of graphic design.