Ava Mallory Scott
School of Design / BFA Communications Design (Graphic Design)
This year has been a year of many publications. My first project of the year was a children's book, my thesis was about books, and all year long, I worked on a book.
My thesis, Breaking Books, explores the purpose, format, and contents of books. It takes four published novels and recreates them in ways that challenge the traditional form. It explores books as novels, sources of information, objects, and archives. Read the whole project brief for details on the outcomes of the deliverables in the downloadable PDF.
The final products of my fall semester senior project were also books: two just cataloging research and the third was the final product. Each book's form relates back to the central theme of women learning about becoming women. This analysis of education on female reproductive health ultimately lead back to the basics, so I created the most basic form of formal education: a baby book.
The 2020 edition of the Prattonia is the last project featured. A complex and wonderful journey taken with Alistair Chew, Maria Useche, and Shelby Rashap. Visit my website for more detailed information and our Instagram for more content.
Together these books create a library of commentary on the use and form of a book. They establish that the form is important but is not definitive and that the content is important but not definitive.
By Ava Mallory Scott
"Book" is a word we use to describe something of a particular form: a series of pages between covers. Four ways we discuss publications like these are as narratives, sources of information, objects, and archives.
By Ava Mallory Scott
One book contains only the beginnings and ends of each story (left) and the other contains only the middles (right).
By Ava Mallory Scott
The Glass Castle is made of many small sections—blips of memory in the author’s life. The whole novel consists of mini stories separated into parts. In order to combat the notion of book as narrative, I separated the basic components of stories.
By Ava Mallory Scott
To combat the idea of books as carriers of information, I eliminated all information from the book. In order to prevent North of Normal from giving any information to the reader, I removed all organizational markings as well as all the images.
By Ava Mallory Scott
I then crossed out all descriptive words so that the book is incomprehensible as a story.
By Ava Mallory Scott
The pages were removed from the binding and crumbled into a box with matches, cut outs of Chanel products from other publications, and other items that fit thematically. This sealed box is a starter kit to build a Chanel bonfire.
By Ava Mallory Scott
This box of trinkets tells Eleanor’s story like a time capsule, a puzzle ready to be pieced together by the reader.
By Ava Mallory Scott
A selection of objects representing different characters and events in Eleanor Oliphant’s journey in Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine were recreated at a small scale and tucked away inside a box.
By Ava Mallory Scott
Taking into consideration its changing forms and uses throughout history and its evolution into electronic information organization, what is a book?
By Ava Mallory Scott
Prattonia 2020 is about the voices we embody and engage with during our time at Pratt. It is an individual graduating student and the school at large.
By Ava Mallory Scott
Prattonia 2020 manifests through 8 different variations in the covers. The colors transition from dark, cool colors to warm, bright colors. When all 8 books are present and ordered properly, they resemble the colors of a sunrise/sunset.
By Ava Mallory Scott
From embarking on our educations to becoming graduates, and from the memories and transformations during our time here to the continuing pursuit of our careers in our larger communities, this book’s purpose is to hold memories.
By Ava Mallory Scott
The second of two research books created to document visual and anecdotal information about women's education on their own bodies. This book explores the information on and style of the resources mentioned in the first book and some personal reflection.
By Ava Mallory Scott
The first of two research books created to document visual and anecdotal information about women's education on their own bodies. The information on this book are responses to various Instagram questions and poles.
By Ava Mallory Scott
The result of all of the research done over the course of the semester. I concluded that people needed to get to the basics with their education on this topic, so I made a book that brought the information down to children's book level.
By Ava Mallory Scott
Links

Read Prattonia on Issuu Prattonia Instagram Pratt BFA ComD Design Thesis 2020

Artist Statement
HELLO, STRANGER.
I’M AVA MALLORY SCOTT.
I’m a recent Pratt Institute Graduate and an ambitious designer interested in creating products, publications, packaging, and patterns. I served on Pratt’s Student Government; co-edited the 2020 edition of The Prattonia, the Pratt Institute Yearbook; was the Chapter President of my sorority; hosted and monitored radio shows at WPIR Pratt Radio; was Pratt Institute Student Leader of the Year; and received the Senior Leadership Award. I enjoy playing guitar, doodling, crossword puzzles, reading, and going out with my friends.