Bruno Munari - Libro Illeggibile MN 1.

Bruno Munari was an Italian artist, designer, and educator. He was a master of visual communication. He began creating Illegible Books in 1949 by simply using different colored paper as creative canvases, eliminating almost all traditional definitions of a book; instead, he purely used oddly-cut color papers as a way of communication and inspiration. It is a style of reading that is entirely focused on the readers as if they are also the co-author of this book. Munari never wanted to teach children how to properly "read" a book but to help them understand how the book as a soft object functions. The possibilities in which a combination of tactile, visual, and formal elements can expand imagination space that eludes words. Even though the book does not have a beginning, middle, or finish, it offers children the complete freedom to use their senses to uncover or construct their own narrative.

When handling this book, one can start by choosing a page by chance, beginning where you want, as we flip and rearrange the pages, to compose or decompose every possible combination of colors and shapes. In the photographic reproductions of the book, the readers see some sequences demonstrated, but limitless possibilities are in each person's hand and mind. To research and study Munari's unreadable book series, one could realize that it is possible to produce a unique way to story-tell to educate by combining the creative use of paratextual elements, visual layout, book design, as well as the innovative use of papers. Here is just one example of "object-books" by Munari. It's densely packed with information, but there is no single word to be read. Munari devoted his life to developing books that pushed the bounds of graphic design and book design, and he hoped that by doing so, he would inspire his readers to think outside of the box.