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'A reconstruction of a printed sheet of Ken Garland and Robert Chapman’s game Connect, designed by Ken Garland and Associates for the James Galt Toy Company in 1969. Including an interview with Ken Garland conducted in 2006.'

This publication combines a reconstruction of a printed sheet of the popular board game ‘Connect’ with an interview conducted at Ken Garland’s home studio in September 2006. During the interview Garland referred to an interesting detail regarding the design of the game:

“Now, I want to tell you something that a lot of people don’t know. The clue to this game is the template from which all these tiles are cut. When the game came out a lot of companies started to make copies, there was an Italian company, somebody in the United States, Japan – they never seemed to get it quite right. [...] If they’d sat down long enough with the original and assembled it – worked out how it would have been layed up to be printed and cut – it wouldn’t have needed too much ingenuity to figure this out.”

The response to this detail inspired the reconstruction of a printed sheet of Connect – and the beginnings of this publication – as an action that would illustrate an important part of the designing process; one that is linked to a knowing use and attitude towards materials available to the designer.

The interview touches on social and philosophical aspects that ‘Connect’ [and games in general] might promote and is intended to work in conversation with the reconstruction. Supporting images, scanned from original pieces of the game, are included to clarify certain key points made in the interview.

This publication hopes to build on a continued interest in a notion of ‘designing as writing’, that is defined as: using form and technical processes [connected to the designing and printing processes] as implicit to the understanding of the publication; form and production join content as equal voices within the presentation of the outcome.


News

14.5.2011 Connect informally launched at the Amsterdam Art/Book Fair 2011.
18.7.2010 Distribution has begun and still haven't got around to the launch...
13.7.2010 Connect has returned from the printer and a book launch will be organised soon in Amsterdam.

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Book specifications

Hardback, 343 x 245 mm
8 pages, plus colophon
Offset, laser printing
Conception, editing, layout and typesetting by David Bennewith / Colophon
Text by Ken Garland and David Bennewith
Typeset in AG Book Rounded by Günter Gerhard Lange, 1980
Published by Colophon. Cat no. CLPHNP01
Distributed by Colophon in the Northern Hemisphere and Clouds in the Southern Hemisphere
Printed by Drukkerij Mart Spruijt, Amsterdam
1st. Edition 500 copies, 2010
ISBN 978-90-815569-1-0
Edition: 500
Weight: 538g
English


Availability

Nijhoff & Lee Bookstore, Amsterdam, NL
San Serriffe, Amsterdam, NL
Section 7 Books, Paris, FR
B Books, Berlin, DE
Motto Bookstore, Berlin, DE
Casco, office for art and design, Utrecht, NL
Stand Up Comedy, Portland, USA
Artwords, London, UK
Donlon Books, London, UK

1 x Publication cost: 10 Euro
1 x Plus post and packing (packet)
1 x Post within Netherlands: 4.85 Euro*
1 x Post within Europe: 12.65 Euro**
1 x Post outside Europe: 21.10 Euro**

Paypal and bank transfer accepted.
For larger and wholesale orders contact me

* Up to 15 copies can be posted for the same price
** Up to 3 copies can be posted for the same price

Order (by email)

All orders through this site will get a free 50 x 70 cm printed sheet of the game-side of the publication.