The VisualRecord Player
I. The brief
Can a book be..NOT a book at all?
This is a classroom project for a Publication Design course which turned into more of a concept-based passion project of mine. Exploring the question “What all can a book be or do?” took me through the journey of ideas and concepts out of which I have carefully chosen one.
The Ideation Process
II. My direction
After the ideationphase, I wondered...Can a book preservemusic & the culturesurrounding it?
Among all of the ideas I had, I went ahead with the one which sat right with me the best, which was: “Can a book preserve music and the culture surrounding it?”. Being a passionate and avid audiophile, I have integrated music into every part of my life. I am one of those people who doesn’t listen to music just for the tunes, but for the deeper meaning and the message that the artist is trying to communicate.
III. The Final Outcome
With music becoming more and more accessible everyday, it has been devalued by streaming services which exploit artists, and vinyl and CD’s getting replaced by newer and cheaper technology like earphones, phones, etc. Artists need to take back their only method to project their voices and spread messages throughout society, like it used to happen before the modernization of music, when listening to music was like a ritual, people would take time out of their day just to listen to music, and vinyl collections were treated like personal treasures.
I wanted to give a familiar yet intriguing look to my book, with keeping context in mind. So I went ahead with the form of a record player. Not exactly a modern-day record player, but a mix between the gramophone and its modern-day counterpart. So let’s move ahead and look at the final renders of the form, which I made in Blender.
This ‘record player’ doesn’t produce sounds or melodies, but translates an artist’s inner thoughts into literature, where with the turn of every page reveals a part of their story attached to that piece of art.
Each edition of the book will be based on an album and every album will have its own story, aligning with its themes in it’s edition. Artists can publish these editions along with their album merchandise on their websites, & offer an exclusive, ambient experience for their music.
This project began as a standard publication design assignment, but it ultimately reshaped how I view the boundaries of a “book.” By stepping away from traditional 2D layouts and exploring 3D form in Blender, I learned how to bridge graphic design with industrial concepts. It challenged me to think beyond grids and typography, focusing instead on physical interaction and how a vessel itself can dictate the pace and emotional weight of its content.
More importantly, the Visual Record Player reinforced my belief that the medium is just as crucial as the message. In a world optimized for speed and disposable media, designing for friction and ritual still holds immense value. The project proved that design can be a tool to slow people down, inviting them to engage with an artist's story with the same deliberate care as placing a needle on a record.
Books and music are two very similar forms of media. Both of them have widespread reach and effective influence on society, spreading ideologies, emotions and messages, leading to changing lives.
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