Rule of Thumb is a moveable artist’s book about social media (via the thumb!) The text of the book is a documentation of the historical human obsession with thumbs, with ourselves, with control, and with approval. In the last 10 years, we have become consumed with living online instead of actual living. We seem to only care about how many “thumbs up”, likes, or hearts we can accumulate on social media platforms. We practice a psychological social separation. We live virtual lives. Now, with the proliferation of the COVID-19 virus, we are living with the physical reality of “social-distancing”. How will we make it back? Can we make it back? Rule of Thumb considers the ways in which humans have used our thumbs to, at best, twist reality, and at worst, ruin ourselves.

Rule of Thumb was written, designed, and produced by Ellen Knudson in Gainesville, Florida, 2020/2021.
Printed on and constructed from Colorplan paper (350gsm, Natural). Letterpress printed from linoleum blocks, photopolymer plates, and metal types. The binding is a storage book structure with a concertina Tyvek spine hand-tinted with acrylic inks. The enclosure is a portfolio with soft flaps (made using directions by Peter D. Verheyen). Enclosure spine and book cover are foil stamped in matte black. 11.5”H x
6.5”W x 2”D
Edition of 40 books