Composition No. 1

VE3 is a re-imagining of a book originally published in the 1960s. The book is the first ever “book in a box”, called Composition No.1 by Marc Saporta. When we say book in a box we quite literally a book that comes in a box with loose pages. The narrative is contained on each page, leaving it up to the reader to decide the order they read the book, and how much or how little of the book they want to read before they begin again. In so many ways, Composition No.1 was published ahead of its time; the book raises all the questions we ask ourselves today about user-centric, non-linear screen-driven ways of reading. With this in mind, Visual Editions approached Tom Uglow of Creative Labs Google and YouTube to write an introduction for the book. This re-imagined edition also includes several of Salvador Plascencia’s drawings, looking at all the different components that make up a “typical” book. The book is designed by Universal Everything, a London based design studio known for their interactive screen-based work. The book, as Visual Editions have shown with their other titles, will have a high attention to design and production values and is an excellent example of a book as an object or experience. The designers have generated unique digitally-generated artwork for the backs of each page, making for a gorgeous, tactile design relevant to literary, art, design, and digital audiences. Ultimately, Visual Editions’ re-imagined Composition No.1 asks readers what makes a book a book?