HEAVEN IS REAL:
JOHN MAUS AND THE TRUTH OF POP
CLASS: TYPOGRAPHY
INSTRUCTOR: PHILIP DIBELLO
FALL 2016
For this project I was assigned to design two books based on the essay “Heaven Is Real: John Maus and The Truth of Pop”, written by Adam Harper. The first book had to be designed as an interpretation of the text and the musical work of John Maus, while the second book was to be designed with as little agency as possible, focusing only on readibility and function, leaving the text to be the main element of the design.
The result was a book with experimental type and distorted imagery taken from John Maus’ music videos and films. The type is set on clear acetate pages with the paragraphs running through the gutter and some unreadable spreads that are meant to interpret the psychedelic enviroment that Maus delivers through his music and lyrics.
The second element of the project is a 4x6 pocket book with so little design agency that the front and back covers were removed, leaving the essay itself to be the first and last pages of the book.
