02. Typography: ISTD 2023 Open | Close
Project brief:
For this project, the International Society of Typographic Designers student assessment brief for 2023 was followed. Through student assessments, ISTD engages with universities and institutions across the globe to raise the profile of typography in design education. The goal is to give both tutors and students the opportunity to explore and develop typography as an inherent part of the design process. The 2023 brief gave students the option of choosing between five different topics. The topic chosen is Open Close.
Using the opening and closing chapter of a book, the aim is to create a radical reimagining of the content through typography. The content, author, period it was written in, genre, impact and relevance to current readership, must be considered in order to depict the shift in tone from the first chapter to the end chapter through type, paper and composition.
The strategy and research are target audience driven. The outcomes must be appropriate for the target audience.
Deliverables
Design Strategy
Originally, The Picture of Dorian was released in Lippincotts magazine in 1891. This magazine originally publishes literature and science. Wilde’s original manuscripts that were submitted to Lippincotts, were edited without his permission, to remove ideas of homosexuality and Dorian’s mistresses in order to highlight the ideas of morality. The originally transcripts were not acceptable at all, and the ideas were not legal at the time.
However now, almost 132 years later, society has progressed in most parts of the world. Sexuality and gender are not cis and heteronormative. People are protected by law to be themselves, however recently the world has taken as step and are re-instating rules of past, while other countries still live in it.
The strategy is to take the history of the novel itself, the ideas of obscuring information to make others comfortable, this also relates to a major theme, appearance vs reality. These ideas will be an agent in targeting Generation Z and Millennials because they have grown up in a progressive society, and this re-design of the novel will be classic literature they can see themselves in.
Since digital media has almost killed print, this strategy puts a modern spin on a magazine. The chapters will be displayed on a zine that will be placed in DAZED, an alternative pop culture and literature magazine. This will catch the audience’s attention and will allow them to physically interact with the literature.
01 Research and Design development
Laying out the text in form of a zine. This is an ode to the original uncensored manuscript published in Lippinton's Magazine in 1890. It also speaks to Gen z and Millennial modern media and how scandals are posted in magazines because Oscar Wilde himself lived a "scandalous" life. It isn't scandalous but rather that he risked prison to just express who he was in reality and in his writing. This layout can be a relatable source of classic literature for a progressive audience.
The zine will demonstrate and degradation of Dorian's soul. The chapters mirror one another because it is the true reflection of who Dorian Gray becomes. Chapter one introduces Dorian through a conversation with the two main characters who influence the corruption of Dorian. The last chapter is a reflection of how these two characters have impacted him and the ugliness of his soul through the painting. It will be visually shown through experimentation with scanography.
02 Specifications
Typography
The use of type is essential when retelling Dorian Gray from cover to cover. The type conveys the plot, its tone and forms the imagery within the zine. In both chapters monserrat TT black is used to emphasise and highlight the main themes that lead to his downfall in the last chapter however in the last chapter it is obscured and distorted. It represents the despair, desperation and corruption of Dorian's soul and his horrible attempt for redemption. It shows him spiralling and contemplating whether or not he can change. This chapter shows the foundation of Dorians character and how it led to him crumbling.
The colour palette is comprised out of three colours, two of which are pink. The colour palette is inspired by pop culture.
and fashion styles that encompass bright and eccentric colours. Chapter one and Chapter twenty make use of an inverse colour palette, this is the connecting link of the main theme. It is also indicative of what causes the corruption of Dorian. Since the colour palette is bright with a neon pink, the print is in RGB to replicate the same vibrancy of the digital design.
and fashion styles that encompass bright and eccentric colours. Chapter one and Chapter twenty make use of an inverse colour palette, this is the connecting link of the main theme. It is also indicative of what causes the corruption of Dorian. Since the colour palette is bright with a neon pink, the print is in RGB to replicate the same vibrancy of the digital design.
In the first and last chapter, there is imagery of a white rose representing Dorian innocence as well as in the last chapter Dorian's innocence was described as his "rose-white boyhood" and his hands were bloodied by the murders he has committed. The pink in the palette is also inspired by these references.
Grides and Guides.
The grids and columns were strategically calculated in order to accommodate the fold files of zine. The A3 is split into eight A5’s with four columns and eight rows. The gutter is at 8,25 mm with margins of 10mm. The layout of the grids and columns is to guide the text to fit into a magazine-like column structure.
Type as image
The scanography treatment for the layouts were, printed manually manipulated and scanned in. After scanning the manipulated type images, it is vectorised and then edited to have a screen-print look and feel to the type.
03 Final outcomes
