Title | FOR BROWSING ONLY |
Brand | THE BROWSING COPY PROJECT |
Product / Service | RECYCLING |
Category | A05. Publications |
Entrant | BEAUTIFUL Singapore, SINGAPORE |
Entrant Company: | BEAUTIFUL Singapore, SINGAPORE |
Design/Advertising Agency: | BEAUTIFUL Singapore, SINGAPORE |
Name | Company | Position |
---|---|---|
Roy Poh | Beautiful | Creative Director |
Roy Poh | Beautiful | Designer |
John Nursalim | Visualmind | Photographer |
Roy Poh | Beautiful | Writer |
The Browsing Copy Project focuses on unloved books. These unsold books are collected from local bookstores and designers around the world are invited to use them as canvases to express their creativity thus giving the books a second life. The ‘before & after’ results are documented. The project is on-going and 20 to 25 designers are invited for each series. This non-profit project provide opportunities for fellow creatives around the world to gather for a good cause and showcase their work to the world. It also allows creatives from different area of work to experiment with different things.
What happens to unsold books? Each year more than 2bn books and magazines are unsold and that is only in the USA. The fates of these books are quite startling. There are many layers of processes but in short, most unsold books will not have a pleasant ending. In fact, sometimes throwing away books might be a cheaper option and will cause fewer headaches for many major bookstores.
This catalogue is entitled ‘For Browsing Only’ and is not for sale. They are circulated around the world's bookstores and places that allow people to pick up a book to browse, like libraries, cafes, boutique stores, clinics, barbers etc. And are collected back after a period of time and passed on to another line of places. The conditions of these catalogues and where they have travelled to are being documented on the website www.browsingcopy.com
The Browsing Copy Project is featured on more than 300 websites and in various magazines and news like the Wall Street Journal. Bookstores from various countries have expressed interest in providing their unsold books for the project. So far, for series 1 & 2, more than 45 designers worldwide have contributed. These include names like Mike Perry, Non-Format and HEY Studio. In addition, we've gotten many participation requests from designers around the world. Series 3 is on the way and the ultimate goal is to have a museum that displays all these wonderful contributions for people to browse.