Hi Justin,
Thanks for clarifying. A bit of background on the project to answer your question.
Burton and I have been worked on this project for over three years. Over that time, we did have a number of publishers interested, but when the economy collapsed at the end of 2008, money for publishing dried up and so did our contacts.
We approached the government for a grant, but since it was a “design” book and not an “art” book we didn’t qualify. Without us having 30k+ to invest into the project and with Burton getting older in his life, this is something we both wanted to see happen in his lifetime, so we decided we would go the independent self-publishing route.
Since these books are printed on demand, we obviously had to make some sacrifices such as digital printing. Obviously we would have printed this book off-set, with a hardcover and dust-jacket, but it just wasn’t economically feasible. So we had to either continue to search for a publisher in tough times, while a PDF sits in my hard drive for X amount of time, or we self-publish and get Burton’s work into the public sphere.
Since the launch we have had alot of incredibly positive feedback, and some negative regarding the print-on-demand aspect (and fair enough), but I think the site is absolutely clear on the printing specification as our intention was never to try and trick someone into thinking this publication is something that it’s not. Regardless of how the book is printed (to me at least), I think the work within the book is extra-ordinary and this is a first of it’s kind in terms of a extensive publication on a very important Canadian modernist designer.
When we started this project Burton and I both questioned whether or not anyone would care, since he and his colleagues have for the most part gone unrecognized compared to their US or European colleagues and it’s been incredible for us both to learn, that people do care. Hopefully this will lead to bigger things in the near future.
I hope this helps clarify your question.
Best,
Greg
