FLOATER: Blurring Basketball Lines

Book Design

A project by Chinatown Basketball Club
Co-published by linlin Plum and Chinatown Basketball Club 
Edited by Herb Tam & Lu Zhang

Printed in the first edition of 600 in China
Swiss binding, 6.25 x 9 inches, 285 pages
Typeset in ABC Social Condensed & Mono by Dinamo; Rungli by Kaj Lehmann; Ten mincho, Source Han Sans & Mono by Adobe

Stockist:
Chinatown Basketball Club
Printed Matter
Actual Source
Accent Sisters
Artbook @ Hauser & Wirth
ICP Bookstore
CHESS CLUB
Secret Riso Club (soon)

Library Holdings:
Thomas J. Watson Library, The Met
Mui Ho Fine Arts Library, Cornell University

FLOATER: Blurring Basketball Lines documents the basketball aesthetics, philosophies, and personal narratives that have emerged from CBC’s weekly runs at New York’s Columbus Park since 2019.  The book proposes a decentered, Asian approach to reimagining a sport long dominated by corporate expressions of aggression, masculinity, and elitism—addressing questions such as: Is there an alternative, distinctly Asian (diaspora) way of experiencing basketball? Could there be a basketball aesthetic rooted in Asian (diaspora) that exists outside mainstream basketball culture?

The book’s structure mirrors the rhythm of a basketball game—Pregame (Foreword), Quarters (Chapters), Overtime (Events), Postgame (Index). The page is imagined as a contest on the court—titles centered like the tip-off, with supporting details at the top and bottom creating a dynamic, back-and-forth reading flow.
       The brick-red cover references Martin Wong’s paintings of New York’s brick buildings, resonating with the architectural surroundings of Columbus Park in Chinatown, CBC’s home court. Two cutouts trace the shape of basketball courts, revealing a ceramic stamp by Xueli Wang, carved with a butterfly entwined with a 江-hoop motif—an emblem of jianghu (江湖), a drifting world of freedom and community beyond hierarchy.
       Typography takes on a strong voice throughout the book. ABC Social Condensed, used for titles, designed by Dinamo through a “multi-people, multi-width mega collaboration”, blends sharpness and playful energy to echo the club’s collaborative spirit. Rungli, used for body text, its circular terminals bringing a softer, approachable rhythm to the page.