Food for Thought Truck Goes to Print

If you’re producing a book there are five moments when the reality of “We’re publishing!” hits home. The first is when the publisher green lights your project. The second is when you write the last sentence of the last chapter and can breathe easily that, yes, there really will be a book. The third is when the design takes shape to reveal what the physical book is going to look like. The fourth… well, the fourth just hit at O+A.

Last week Anna Danby of Artifice Press in London did a final press check of FOOD FOR THOUGHT TRUCK, our behind-the-scenes account of the mobile design studio that has occupied much of O+A’s staff for the past year. Anna checked color values and text alignments to make sure Paulina McFarland’s buoyant design would show to best effect and gave her blessing to print these pages for publication. The photo of her signing that “OK to Print” card is the publishing equivalent of “They’re off!” in horse racing.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT TRUCK tells the story of Verda Alexander’s design lab on wheels from the kick-off meeting where Verda first presented the concept to a not-entirely comprehending team through the ups and downs of buying a truck and turning it into a rolling studio to the truck’s adventures on the road in San Francisco, San Jose, Fremont, Bakersfield and Los Angeles. It’s the most detailed examination yet of an O+A project as it unfolds and a real-world picture of what designers do.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT TRUCK will be available in bookstores next month. Or you can pre-order today directly from Artifice at:

https://artifice-books-on-architecture.myshopify.com/products/food-for-thought-truck

What’s the fifth moment when the reality of “We’re publishing!” hits home? When you tug open a box newly delivered that morning and hold the finished book in your hand. We’re looking forward to that moment soon.