Toying with the concept of what a book can be, American designer Ben Denzer (through his publishing house Catalog Press) binds unusual collections of objects to create humorous volumes that you’re unlikely to find in a library. The limited edition books have been sold in the Whitney Shop, landing in the hands of a few lucky collectors. The unique objects have also found their way into the collections of museums and universities around the world.

A graphic designer with a degree in Architecture and Certificate in the Visual Arts, Denzer has created books of bound cheese slices, ketchup and sweetener packets, napkins, sequentially numbered dollar bills, and other books. The covers and spines feature the Catalog Press logo as well as well bold text announcing what the “reader” will find inside. In an interview with Its Nice That, Denzer shared his stance on books as “both content and object; simultaneously sculpture and catalog, singular contained multitudes.” He added that through Catalog Press he can “use the idea of the book as a catalogue to explore these wackier ideas while at the same time experimenting with more constrained design moves.”

Ben Denzer’s exploration of books can also be seen in his Ice Cream Books project which pairs real books with their ice cream complement. To see more of his work, check out his online portfolio and follow Denzer on Instagram.

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