Composition No.1 is a re-imagining of a book originally published in the 1960s. The book is the first ever “book in a box”, by French writer Marc Saporta. When we say book in a box we mean: quite literally a book that comes in a box with loose pages.

Each page has a self-contained narrative, leaving it 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. Composition No.1 was published ahead of its time: raising questions we ask ourselves today about user-centric, non-linear screen driven ways of reading.

So it made sense to develop a screen version too: Composition No.1 as an iPad app. While the printed book asks readers to shuffle pages, the screen version leaves readers no choice, automatically shuffling pages, forcing readers to hold the page down on the screen.

With this in mind, we approached T.L. Uglow of Google Creative Labs to write an introduction. This re-imagined edition also includes several of Salvador Plascencia’s (author of The People of Paper) drawings, looking at all the different components that make up a “typical” book. The book is designed by Universal Everything, UK-based design studio known for their interactive screen-based work.

Introduction by T.L. Uglow, Google Creative Lab
Diagrams by Salvador Plascencia
Designed by Universal Everything

Published August 2011
ISBN 978-0-9565692-2-6
Box with loose pages
£25

Translated from the French by Richard Howard