"I didn't want to make a coffee table book": James Pearson-Howes on documenting 20 years of grime

"The book's designers, Alflie Allen and Max Marshall, brought grime's fashion legacy to the tactile experience. James says: "I said I didn't want to make a coffee table book as I thought that didn't feel right for grime." In consideration of how best to encapsulate the genre's feel, James, Alfie, and Max came up with the idea of condensing the photo book into a poster; each page folds out into A2, creating a storybook that unfurls alongside the narrative."

""The inspiration was all the materials back then - very plastic and shiny," James says. "A pair of old y2k silver and orange Nike trainers had a big influence on the cover design." The photo book is encased in a silver, record-like sleeve, with a vivid orange belly band slotting into top and bottom grooves to hold it all together."

"Another important influence was the resourceful experimentation of grime culture. For example, S-X's Wooo Riddim was created when the Wolverhampton producer was just 18, yet remains an immediately recognisable staple within the genre. James paid homage to the simplicity in grime production, often made in software like Fruity Loops, with his dark room techniques. "The technique was very instinctual, picking colours and almost painting out without seeing (it's on photographic paper so has to be done in place) to create these vibrant colours," says James."

Alflie Allen and Max Marshall translated grime's fashion legacy into a tactile photo object. James resisted a conventional coffee-table book and, with Alfie and Max, condensed the photo book into a fold-out A2 poster so each page unfolds into a storybook. The design draws on Y2K materials—very plastic, shiny finishes—and an old silver-and-orange Nike trainer informed the cover. The photo book sits in a silver, record-like sleeve with a vivid orange belly band. Darkroom techniques echo grime's DIY production aesthetics, community spaces like the Devons Road youth club are foregrounded, and a two-day workshop will take place at Beau Beaus this summer.

Read at Itsnicethat