A Contemporary Cabinet of Curiosities

The cabinet of curiosities was a 16th-century precursor to the contemporary museum, a collection of objects assembled to instill a sense of wonder and awe. The design of the catalogue alludes to collecting by having the art reproductions printed as separate stickers that are placed in the book by the user. (The stickers were not a cost-saving measure.) The art—by such artists as Damien Hirst, Katharina Fritsch and Yasumasa Morimur—supplies the wonder. The idea of an assembly is carried through to the section dividers, which are antique anatomical illustrations and pages from a catalogue of typographic decorative material. The concept even works down to the text face, a custom remix of one of my fonts, New Clear Era.