Ilka Gilvesy
Artist & Designer
Special Projects & Commissions
Budapest

Design Practice
Portfolio
Working Together
Services
Pricing

Art Practice
Work on paper
Artist statement

Archive
Personal projects
RCA thesis

About
Press

igilvesy1@gmail.com
Instagram

RCA Thesis

PEPPER CAKE, 2023

A BOOK ON MEDIA & REALITY
ROLE Concept, writing, photography, printing, binding, and book design.

CONCEPT

A book exploring how media shapes our perception of reality through a constructed conversation, using direct quotes from my personal media diet.

PROCESS

Hand-produced using a risograph, embracing a raw, tactile aesthetic. Images of the main characters were all captured using photo-booths, setting up the conversation as happening nowhere in particular and somewhere at once.

FORMAT

The book’s format reinforces the concept. A man and woman in conversation, positioned on opposite sides of the spiral binding, visually separating their perspectives.

Used color coding to further distinguish the voices and reinforce the dialogue format.

PROCESS

OUTCOME

UNIQUE CHALLANGES & SOLUTIONS

To signal a shift in source material, I rotated three distinct typefaces, sometimes within a single sentence, mirroring the fragmented nature of media consumption.

The rotation of the fonts indicating a change in source as explained at the start of the book.

Notice each time the font changes. It indicated a “change in source.”

UNIQUE DESIGN ELEMENTS

Included handmade inserts resembling LSD tabs, hand-glued onto specific pages or inserted using corner tabs to further emphasize the mind-altering nature of media and information intake.

Notice the LSD sheet is a removable element of the design.

Each tab is also glued into the palm and later tounge of both characters.

PROTOTYPING AND TESTING

1. Idea & quick test.

2. Photo-booth.

The photo-booth served as an unknown location. Being both somewhere and nowhere at once.

3. Edit, print, apply treatment & test.

4. Improve & try again.

5. Succeed & proceed.

OUTCOME

EXHIBITION at the Trueman Brewery, LONDON
Role Art Director
DISPLAY DESIGN Jay Potts

Exhibited at the Trueman Brewery in London, in which the custom metal display designed by Jay Potts was inspired by my exploration of distortion, the self, and reality.

OUTCOME
"Pepper Cake" became a visual composition exploring the nature of existence and how media shapes perception. It incorporates borrowed sentences and images, raising questions about authorship and the nature of consumption and reproduction in media.

A visually and conceptually layered book that merges content with form, requiring the reader to engage with both the physicality and meaning of the text. The handmade inserts create an interactive experience, blurring the lines between reading and altered perception.

Additionally, the book delves into the idea of reality being constructed and questions who is doing the constructing and how it affects those not participating.

RCA Thesis

A BOOK ON MEDIA & REALITY ROLE Concept, writing, photography, printing, binding, and book design.

CONCEPT

A book exploring how media shapes our perception of reality through a constructed conversation, using direct quotes from my personal media diet.

PROCESS

Hand-produced using a risograph, embracing a raw, tactile aesthetic. Images of the main characters were all captured using photo-booths, setting up the conversation as happening nowhere in particular and somewhere at once.

FORMAT

The book’s format reinforces the concept. A man and woman in conversation, positioned on opposite sides of the spiral binding, visually separating their perspectives. Used color coding to further distinguish the voices and reinforce the dialogue format.

UNIQUE CHALLANGES & SOLUTIONS

To signal a shift in source material, I rotated three distinct typefaces, sometimes within a single sentence, mirroring the fragmented nature of media consumption.

UNIQUE DESIGN ELEMENTS

Included handmade inserts resembling LSD tabs, hand-glued onto specific pages or inserted using corner tabs to further emphasize the mind-altering nature of media and information intake.

PROTOTYPING AND TESTING

1. Idea & quick test.

2. Photo-booth. The photo-booth served as an unknown location. Being both somewhere and nowhere at once.

3. Edit, print, apply treatment & test.

4. Improve & try again.

5. Succeed & proceed.

EXHIBITION at the Trueman Brewery, LONDONRole Art Director DISPLAY DESIGN Jay Potts Exhibited at the Trueman Brewery in London, in which the custom metal display designed by Jay Potts was inspired by my exploration of distortion, the self, and reality.

A BOOK ON MEDIA & REALITY
ROLE Concept, writing, photography, printing, binding, and book design.

The book’s format reinforces the concept. A man and woman in conversation, positioned on opposite sides of the spiral binding, visually separating their perspectives.

Used color coding to further distinguish the voices and reinforce the dialogue format.

2. Photo-booth.

The photo-booth served as an unknown location. Being both somewhere and nowhere at once.

EXHIBITION at the Trueman Brewery, LONDON
Role Art Director
DISPLAY DESIGN Jay Potts

Exhibited at the Trueman Brewery in London, in which the custom metal display designed by Jay Potts was inspired by my exploration of distortion, the self, and reality.