Love Speech | Creating a Dictionary From Scratch

Book binder Anna Zelinková has been working on the Love Speech project since the very beginning. She will tell us all about her process, from concept to creation, at our dictionary reveal on Saturday 16th November in Grófin. Everyone is welcome to join us in this celebration!

Anna began by organizing the vocabulary and selecting a binding style. Since the project involved many different people over a long time period, she designed a unifying word template to simplify the formatting work after the words were collected. People could fill out a paper printed template to add a word to the dictionary. That method was workshop-friendly and easy to reassemble in the final book. For the binding, Anna chose a screw style method that she concealed to create a clean, polished look. She also wanted a tactile element on the cover, something inviting. After experimenting, she created a pillow-like design, layered to prevent warping, and inspired by the Icelandic tricolor flag. 

"From the start, I knew I wanted to create something tactile—something that would encourage the observer to touch the heart before opening the book, as a symbol of connection, like touching another heart. After some experimentation, I chose to make this pillow-like application." Anna Zelinková