Behind the scenes, a lot has happened over the past weeks.

The design of the book’s pages is nearly finished. I’ve selected and placed the illustrations and sketches I’ll feature and I’m close to finalising the Introduction section. All that’s left to do is a small photo shoot of some things from my archives, selecting one or two more articles for the Context section, and illustrating the articles.

After that I’ll print a dummy and kick off the second round of iteration—crossing T’s, dotting I’s. (And then I’ll cross those T’s and dot those I’s again and again because, surely, more things will arise.)

In parallel, and perhaps most importantly, I’m working on the design of the cover. I have a few ideas I’d like to discuss with the printer to learn more about the various possibilities and costs.

The book is now also available for pre-order through its own website—you’re reading this update on it right now! Here, you can pay for it in euros or dollars, if you prefer. BTC payments are still possible, too.

Originally I only offered one pre-order option that included rewards, like a print and a sticker pack. I’ve now named that the Collectors Edition, and added a separate option to order just the book (without additional rewards) at a reduced price. 

Once the book is out in the world, this site is where I’ll have it up for sale. I’ll make the articles and illustrations from the Context section available here too. They’ll be published, in their entirety, under the Creative Commons Share-alike license. 

PROMO VIDEO

My friend Lilia shot and edited a short promotional video that provides a glimpse behind the scenes in my studio in Amsterdam, a peek at the book’s production process, and a sneak preview of the first spreads. While the process was new to me, this video was a lot of fun to make and I’m proud of the result.

PRE-ORDERS

The total number of pre-orders has grown to 76—11 of which came through the new website. I initially thought I’d be selling 50 pre-orders at most, so things are definitely exceeding my expectations.

Feel free to place your pre-order through the new site, or use the Geyser crowdfund campaign to secure your copy.

UP NEXT

In my next blog I’ll dive a little deeper into the technical side of the book. I’ll take you through the different kinds of paper I’ll use, the printing methods we’ll employ, and how the book will be bound and finished.

Keep your eyes peeled!
Thomas

Loops have been the overarching theme in the last two months of my work. You see, my book project is incredibly exciting, and whenever I have a large project like this—a beast—I have a tendency to become somewhat obsessive, (subconsciously) dedicating every waking hour to feeding it.

I forced myself to step away from it for a bit, working on other projects while letting the book slumber in the back of my head. When I picked the project back up again, I could feel the different pieces it consists of had clicked into place. It always surprises me to see how taking time away from a project can contribute to seeing things more clearly on the project.

A new website for NoGood

During this brief hiatus I found myself digging deeper into the indie & open web. I read articles by people who have been active proponents of an open web—as opposed to the walled gardens we’ve gotten accustomed to tracking us whichever way we surf—and I discovered the concept of tending to a ‘digital garden’. I saw a side of the web I was less exposed to before that aligned perfectly with my values.

As a result, I overhauled the NoGood website. This new version of the website is simple, effective, and static: there is no tracking whatsoever, and it makes no requests to external resources. It only uses system fonts, serves optimised images, and because of that it’s blazing fast. I built it using 11ty, and you can read more about it in last month’s blogpost. Within weeks, NoGood got featured on DeadSimpleSites, a gallery full of similar websites, which is a welcome bit of recognition.

Rewarding dialogues

The book’s sections (Work, Process, Context, Items) are set. The Context section is meant to—well, do what it says on the tin: paint a picture of the context in which my own work was created and construct conversations between my work and that which came before it.

To do so, I’ll carve out space for articles—published under the Creative Commons or share-alike license—that inspired me along the way. I’ll illustrate each article myself, in black and white.

I’ve asked a few people for their permission to publish their articles and have received positive responses from Cory Doctorow, Joan Westenberg, Jack Dorsey, Lyn Alden and DerGigi, for which I’m incredibly grateful. Just the ability to have dialogues with these people whose work I’ve admired is a rewarding outcome of me pursuing this project, feeding back into my desire to create a great publication.

In order to do right by the Creative Commons license, I’ll make the Context section available on the NoGood website, too. I may even turn it into a printable zine—more on that later.

Editing and designing the NoGood book

I primarily work on the book from my studio space, which I share with two other creatives, Timo and Daniël.

Daniël designs and builds open-source software for Ghost, writes, and publishes a literary magazine called TRANSCRIPT. We share similar values, he knows a thing or two about the open web, and it made perfect sense for us to work together. I’ve hired him to act as an editor for the book, and he now edits my writing (in fact, he edited this update, too!). We’ve had some dialogues about the articles I’m including as well as others I could add, too, and we’ll continue our conversations throughout the design process.

Commissioning him to take on this work has been a relief. It freed up precious headspace, and I’ve started designing the first spreads of the book. Some sections already are very clear, while others still need time to crystallise. Fortunately, clarity comes as a result of chipping away at the work ahead, so I keep at it with renewed energy—updates will now follow more regularly.

Crowdfunding & production

I have a complete picture of the production costs of the book and I’ve ironed out the logistics. I know which printer will be printing it, and my budget estimates were correct. The current number of pre-orders (53) covers roughly 70% of the production costs, which means I can safely produce the NoGood book—it’s going to print this summer!

200 copies will roll off the press, and I’m really looking forward to it.

When I was a teenager I used to record songs from the radio on cassette tapes. I would patiently listen to the radio until a specific song came on, at which point I ran to my stereo and pressed the play and record button simultaneously. A couple of seconds late every time.

Later I’d torrent Japanese pop records on Napster. I learned about bitrates, open ports and file types and figured out which search filters worked best. Though I never knew what file I’d end up with. I modded my Playstation so I could play a region-locked copy of Winning Eleven, a Japanese soccer game. I screwed open the console and replaced the chip, feeling like a true hacker doing something very illegal. If it worked I’d spend the next hours trying to make sense of Japanese in-game menus.

I’ve come to realise that NoGood is essentially a throwback my teenage years, the late 90’s and early 00’s. To physical media, floppy disks and game cartridges. To Casio watches and replaceable batteries and Playstations. To messing around with hardware and sometimes breaking it. To the beginnings of the internet when it was new and exciting. And weird.

I gave this short introduction to the printers I visited last week. I’m not sure if they understood exactly what I was talking about, but they showed me lots of samples and beautifully designed books all the same. It looks like my initial estimate – €7000 to produce 200 books – was pretty accurate. Some of my suggestions, like using a variety of paper stock and weights, barely move the price. Others, like creating a cardboard sleeve and using Pantones, are relatively expensive to produce and will most likely be scrapped.

Crowdfunding

We’re currently at 31 pre-orders, covering about 45% of the production costs. An extra special supporter even bought a set of five books!

Next steps

I started designing the first spreads last week, though I think I’ll take a short break over the holidays.

To say I was excited to finally begin working on the book, and to launch the crowdfund campaign, is an understatement. But excitement wasn’t the only emotion I felt. Realising there was no way back hit me hard, and I’ve been feeling the pressure since I first announced the book.

What if there’s no interest in the book, or the production costs are higher than I expected? Do I have enough content to fill a book? How do you make a book anyway? It’s a mixed bag of imposter syndrome and being way out of my comfort zone.

So to clear my head, and on the hunt for inspiration, I visited some of my favorite bookshops in Amsterdam. I quickly discovered there’s a recurring theme in the books that catch my eye. I call them ‘zines without a budget’ – books that have a more modest look, yet are beautifully designed and use various printing techniques in a more subtle way. The opposite of the large, glossy and colourful publications that scream for attention.

Crowdfunding

The first weeks of the campaign have been a success, with over 20 pre-orders and roughly 25% of the production costs covered. A huge thank you to everyone who has supported the book so far!

Next steps

Next week I’ll visit two printers that specialise in producing art books. Their initial quotes were in line with my expectations and I’m looking forward to discuss options, get their input and see a lot of beautiful books.

Producing an art book has been a vaguely defined idea that simmered in the back of my brain for years. Being well aware of the amount of work it takes to complete such a project I never mustered the courage to start.

Like most digital illustrators I love seeing my work printed, bundled and displayed in stores. But that’s not the only reason for producing a book, neither is it the most important one. The book is an opportunity to highlight open-source initiatives and the growing community behind it. Furthermore, it can exist outside of any digital bubble, and in this case, can be the start of some good conversations about a world mostly unknown to the average internet user.

Last fall I visited the Allard Pierson museum where in the gift shop I spotted Project Japan: Metabolism Talks by Rem Koolhaas. Consisting of over 700 pages printed on very thin paper, and with each spread beautifully designed by Irma Boom it stood out among the other books. It reminded me of a very thick but compact phonebook.

It was everything my book should be. Project Japan flicked a switch, making me forget about the reasons I had not to produce it, and inspired me to start working on the NoGood book right away.

Concept

Although NoGood’s origins lie in the bitcoin space, this will not be a book about bitcoin. I want to tell a larger story about open-source software, open protocols and online privacy. My illustrations will take up most of the book, but I intend to dedicate ample space to provide more background and context about the environment in which my work exist. To achieve this, I will divide the book into distinct sections:

• Work An overview of NoGood illustration projects.
• Process Showcasing my illustration process.
• Context Articles by people whose work I admire or find inspiring.
• Items A catalogue of NoGood physical products.

Self-publishing

This will be a limited edition and self-published book. My initial goal is to produce 200 books. Luckily, I have a background in print production, so I can design it myself. I’ll also have to find a printer, manage the budget, hire a copy writer and take care of distribution.

Crowdfunding

I set up a crowdfund campaign, where you can already pre-order the book, since self-publishing gets expensive quickly. All pre-orders cover part of the production costs, and help me figure out how many books to produce. I’ll also create exclusive rewards for early supporters, such as small art prints, NOSTR badges or a mention on NoGood Radio. The book will feature a dedicated page that lists the (nick)names of all supporters.

Next steps

I’ve never self-published a book before so I have a lot of research to do. First up, requesting quotes from printers to get an idea of what’s possible. I’ll start looking for articles and blog posts to use in the context section, and contact their authors to ask for permission to use them. Keep you posted!