On Such a Full Sea (2013)

On Such a Full Sea (2013)
Chang-rae Lee
Jacket and slipcase design
Helen Yentus
Book in slipcase. H23o x W150 mm; slipcase only, W110 mm. 368 pages. Edition of 500, of which this is #178. Acquired 1 October 2018.
Photo: Riverhead Books and AIGA.

Riverhead art director Helen Yentus and members of the MakerBot team designed this slipcase for Lee’s novel. An edition of 500, made with the MakerBot® Replicator® 2 Desktop 3D Printer with MakerBot PLA filament, a bioplastic made of corn and fabricated by MakerBot in Brooklyn, New York, appeared in 2013 just before the trade edition in 2014.

Is this the first 3D-printed slipcase?  Yea or nay, this effort is clever.  As the book slips from its case, the 3D elements of the title on the slipcase interact with the type on the cover. The design requires “pride of space” on the shelf if not pride of place.

So far, though, taking the 3D printing technique beyond its novelty appeal and into meaningful book art seems to be a challenge. Since 2018, only one other 3D-printing effort has joined the Books On Books Collection: Louise Levergneux’s Finding Home (2019). Beyond some efforts with 3D printing of children’s books for the visually impaired, the technique has not caught on in the larger publishing world. In 2017, Ron Arad designed a 3D-printed book and had it prototyped in space, with NASA: Genius: 100 Visions of the Future. A limited edition of 300 was produced in 2019. In 2022, however, Autodesk Instructables posted a how-to guide, and although the examples seem crude, the technique permits the use of resin, which may appeal to book artists and sculptors interested in limited editions.

Perhaps there is a crossover with boxes or pop-ups or pulp-printing waiting to happen.

Further Reading

“Louise Levergneux“. 27 April 2021. Books On Books Collection.

Ballant, Lindsay. 1 June 2007. “Helen Yentus“. Print. Accessed 5 January 2014.

Halterman, Todd. 12 December 2013. “Print Is Not Dead – Pulitzer Prize Hopeful Wraps His Novel In A 3D Printed Slipcase“. 3D Printer World. Accessed 5 January 2014. 

Mikey77. 4 December 2022. “3D Print a Book“. Autodesk Instructables. Accessed 6 October 2024.

Scott, Clare. 24 March 2017. “Albert Einstein Honored With the First Book to Be 3D Printed in One Piece“. Dolce. Accessed 7 October 2024.

Staff. N.D. “Helen Yentus“, The Book Cover Archive. Accessed 5 January 2014.

Staff. 10 December 2013. “MakerBot Creates First-of-Its-Kind 3D Printed Hardcover Book Slipcase for Award—Winning and New York Times—Bestselling Author Chang-rae Lee“. Accessed 5 January 2014.

Staff. 11 December 2013. “Riverhead Goes 3D for Chang-rae Lee“, Publishers Weekly. Accessed 5 January 2014.

Wagstaff, Dan. 11 January 2014. “Helen Yentus 3D Slipcase“. The Casual Optimist. Accessed 15 January 2014.