In Numbers: Serial Publications by Artists Since 1955 was intended to be the first serious survey of this genre of artists’ books. As such, a great deal of material had to be culled from a variety of obscure sources, and the time and energy required would not allow for the book to be totally exhaustive in scope. But what was included was intended to be comprehensive, authoritative and authentic, so we chose different techniques to illustrate and contextualize the titles.

Our cover design and contents page illustration emphasized seriality, and an opening section of representative covers established relative scale among the titles, which couldn’t be illustrated easily among the individual entries. To compensate for the alphabetical organization of titles, we developed a time line to contextualize them temporally. For the publications themselves, physical descriptions detailed 850-some issues or volumes, and every single item needed to be illustrated by a cover or other representative image. Distinct paper finish and color for essay and interview sections differentiated the voices and punctuated the individual entries to elaborate on selected publications, themes, art-historical contexts and publishing methods unique to the genre. All of these aspects were realized formally to broaden and define the comprehensiveness of the survey.

The fluorescent paper inserts evoke a xeroxed zine aesthetic in a subtle and restrained manner, and underscore the color scheme of the type on the cover.