A sculptural publication reimagining the humble bin as both subject and object – absurd, abject, and unexpectedly beautiful. Designed in close collaboration with Joe Lycett, Bins translates his irreverent vision into a tactile, disruptive book object. His brief – to make something that looked like “a gay bin bag” – led to an open-bound form with a printed exposed spine, foiled edges, and a cover wrapped in layered holographic and black foils. With no clear front or back, the book resists legibility – part monograph, part misbehaving artefact.

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Inside, photography of bins is paired with spontaneous, drunken captions by Lycett, interspersed with original paintings of rubbish. Gloss stock and layered varnishes mimic the synthetic tactility of plastic; torn halftones, handwritten notes and found textures bring chaos and intimacy. Text is set in a contemporary cut of a classic serif typeface, creating a quiet tension between the elevated and the throwaway. Materials were chosen for their conceptual weight: Extract, made from recycled coffee cups, forthe text pages; iridescent silver paper mimics the foil of food wrappers; Hot Pink Colorplan punctuates the sequence. Across the interior, nine different foils – including holographic and high-shine “disco” finishes – are used with deliberate excess.

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Bins is a considered balance of the preposterous, the profound and the punk. It treats the low as high, the ugly as exquisite – refusing to flatter its reader, but insisting, with a kind of defiant pleasure, that even the most throwaway things are worth looking at twice. Joe’s irreverent perspective and joyful approach made this book a total delight to work on. 

Artist & Author: Joe Lycett

Design: Billie Temple & Joe Lycett 

Contributors: Al Little, Daisy May Cooper, Katrina Navikas

Published by Hurtwood Books
Papers: G.F. Smith and Fedrigoni

All images courtesy of Joe Lycett