Andy Gray from Colours May Vary
Have you noticed a rise in the popularity of picture books amongst adults?
We have noticed an upswing in adults buying picture books over the last few years, but on the whole i feel that the books are being bought for children as gifts or by parents. It is tricky, as retailers, to know why a person is buying a book without explicitly asking the question. The move back to picture books seems to be following a more general return to physical media and a move away from screens/readers. The publishing in this field (through Flying Eye, Tate, Little Gestalten etc.) is of a really high quality and people respond to the physical nature of the object (paper quality, image repro, binding, smell etc.). These are objects to be kept and cherished, not a glossy glue bound kids book that takes a beating. Also - i think parents want to keep their children away from glowing screens as much as is possible, we have heard them say as such, and a beautifully printed book is an engaging way to do that.
In your opinion, can imagery hold as much value as written narrative?
Yes, definitely. I think narrative painting proved that a tale can be told through a single image, and the old adage 'a picture paints a thousand words' must have its roots somewhere. Of course, this very much depends on the imagery and how it is used, for instance wayfinding, pictograms etc. have proved extremely useful in graphic design terms, overcoming language barriers, being understood easily and by all. In book terms, artists like Jon McNaught have been masterful in conjuring narrative using a limited palette of colours and very few words, and recently Jean Jullien's playful visual jokes and witty imagery prove that sometimes words get in the way rather than add anything. Noma Bar is another who uses powerful wordless images to create meaning in addressing important issues. Most picture books however, especially children's titles, combine words and images, as the learning aspect and association of image/word is vital to how they are read. Even the simplest Miffy books are usually accompanied by simple phrases and have been translated into many languages.
How important is the relationship between word and image? Does one need the other?
I perhaps have answered this above to a degree. The point behind many children's titles, especially early years, is educational, revolving around language acquisition. Books that rely on solely image-based narrative require a more sophisticated understanding. This is probably why we see some of the Nobrow titles (the concertina books particularly, and the collections) appealing more to adults. Obviously context is everything and if the illustrations are underpinning editorial content for example, the relationship is key - one supports the other. There has been a proliferation in the use of illustrated content in magazine editorial, and in some cases the use of infographics makes complex ideas visible in graphic form. In picture books we primarily see a combination of image and word, which seems to stress the importance of both, commercially at the very least!
What do you think makes people want to buy print-based books?
As i eluded to earlier, tangibility, the 'thingness' of a book, is key. The cover art, the feel of paper stock under the fingers, the smell of the print itself, it seems very important to us. We spend our lives glued to a glowing screen, from dawn, through our working day, till dusk. Books, the act of reading, has been shown to help us achieve a clarity of thought, it is an act that can relax our brains. A recent book (and i apologise, i cannot remember details) details how our brains are still too primitive to truly get to grips with modern technologies. Add into this popular return to analogue process and methods - the return to the printing press, the silk-screen, even the photocopier-like properties of riso all lead to more tangible product. It gains (or re-gains) an aura which has been lost for a couple of digital decades. Personally i think this move started well over a decade ago and is by no means reserved for reading - slow food, long-form journalism, textile production, even running and cycling somehow fly in the face of perceived ideas of linear technological progress. and... reading a book takes you somewhere else, private rather than shared, internal rather than external.
