Tree of Codes: the making of a die-cut book

Jonathan Safran Foer wanted to try out die-cutting technique as a different way of telling a story. Having thought about working with various other texts, Jonathan decided to cut into and out of what he calls his “favorite book”: The Street of Crocodiles by Bruno Schulz. To create Tree of Codes each page featured a different die-cut. His publisher, Visual Editions worked with Die Keure in Belgium to produce the book, having been turned down by every other printer they approached – frequently with claims of "this book can't be made" ringing in their ears. It is literally a book sculpted from another book.




Here is a brief video of the book's production:


And a video of peoples' reaction to the book upon seeing it for the first time: