Looking for something?

Tap outside or press close

A printed book that can only be read in 360-degrees

Studio Miles, a graphic design studio based in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, has managed to create a 360-degree view of a city in printed form.

Written By:
Open pages of Montreal 360° showing page numbers 26 and 27, with a black and white illustration and red text on the right page against a black background

The studio worked with the Observatory of Ville-Marie Tower, a unique point of view in Montreal where you have a 360-degree view of the city, on a new 192-page historical book titled Montreal 360°. The book is aimed at tourists as a memento of their time in the city; and as such, the designers chose a square format to create a piece that was "not too big nor too heavy" to take home.

"From the sky, the Quebec metropolis finally reveals its secrets," Studio Miles says. "Having such an interesting subject in our hands, we needed a conceptual design response that would perfectly match the subject.

"We absolutely had to find a way to create a unique experience for the reader."

In the initial stages of the project, the studio experimented with the idea of a 360-degree view. It finally manifested in separating the book into four "dials", so that the reader has to turn the book around to read each section to create a "360-degree reading experience."

Each of the four sections represents a different part of the city. "This conceptual book plays with minimalist graphic codes from the 60s and 70s, with the 1967 World Expo of Montreal and the Olympic Games of Montreal in 1976," says Studio Miles.

Stacked copies of Montreal 360° book alongside the open square-format book showing city photography and minimalist design layout
Open book with four sections printed on orange and tan pages, each requiring 360-degree rotation to read Montreal 360°
Montreal 360° book open showing a page titled "Le Magasin La Baie The Bay Store" with text and photographs, demonstrating the square format design that requires rotating to read each section
Open spread of Montreal 360° showing aerial photographs of the city with text and page numbers 90 and 91, demonstrating the book's four-section design that requires rotating to read each dial
Open Montreal 360° book displaying an orange page with large numbers and a contents page, demonstrating the 360-degree rotational reading format
Open pages of Montreal 360° book showing text in red and black, demonstrating the 360-degree rotational reading format designed by Studio Miles
An open spread from Montreal 360° showing a page about Le Stade Olympique with French text on the left and a minimalist photograph of the Olympic Stadium's architectural structure on the right
Open spread of Montreal 360° book showing black and white historical photographs of snowy city streets with text oriented in different directions to be read by rotating the book
Open book showing Montreal 360° with a circular geometric pattern on the left page and text layout on the right page designed to be read when rotating the book
Opened Montreal 360° book showing a text page on the left and a black and white historical photograph of people seated outside Westmount 162 on the right
An open spread of Montreal 360° showing a orange page with years 1800 and 2700 printed large, alongside a contents page listing chapters about Montreal's history and landmarks
Double spread of Montreal 360° book showing white sans-serif text rotated 180 degrees with a circular sun motif on teal background, demonstrating the 360-degree reading concept
An open spread of Montreal 360° showing a dark left page and green right page with white text reading "Montreal Tales Chosen Ones Venable" rotated for 360-degree reading experience
Close-up of Montreal 360° book pages showing textured spheres surrounded by radiating line patterns in monochromatic design
Open spread of Montreal 360° showing red pages with rotated text that must be read by turning the book, designed by Studio Miles
Close-up of the spine and pages of Montreal 360° showing printed text that must be read by rotating the book, demonstrating its unique 360-degree reading experience
Share