A key point within this brief is how the text MUST own the page, however the actual amount of copy that I have been given is quite small, each tale is only one small paragraph long, this issue is then made more extreme by the requirement for my book, if it is physical to be of a large format, minimum sizes are given however I think that to answer the brief in the most successful way, my format size should be larger than the bare minimum. This raises many questions as to how I am going to have the text own the page with such large spreads and such a small amount of body copy.
A positive of having less copy means that I am given vast amounts of space to experiment with hierarchy as well as with different hero visuals that can flow throughout the spreads. The book does require a cover and an introduction as well as a title page, however it also asks me to challenge the regular ways to reading books, this prompts me to stretch out of the normal as Calvino does so well with his writing style, beyond requiring a single cover, the contents of the book itself can take on any format. Folding techniques and format experimentation could, if done to a high and appropriate standard, assist in delivering my impactful and meaningful messages to a higher degree as well as showcasing specialist format and paper stock knowledge.
This idea of using specialist formats and stocks is constantly seen within my best practice research, and also seen often within some professional publication design examples.
KAPOW!
KAPOW is an extremely useful example of how normally unconsidered parts of a book can be altered to make the narrative and information within much more interesting and engaging to read. By incorporating typographical rotations and altercations to the actual body copy itself the book becomes unique and innovative. This effect could work well within my work, by altering the axis or size of different key words and phrases within the paragraphs of the city tales themselves it will allow words that are especially expressive to be expressed or singled out as a word that needs reflection or is of high importance without falling into the trap of simply making it bold or a larger point size.
As well as being more interesting to read this type of type manipulation can show a greater sense and understanding of hierarchal systems, this would of course need to be done well to showcase this and thus would require extensive experimentation, but it would allow my stories to be told in a more unconventional way, as well as giving me sufficient reason to leave space around phrases and paragraphs, filing the spreads more and allowing them to feel more like they belong on the page itself rather than simply being printed onto a book that already exists.
While KAPOW! brings up many ideas about how to manipulate body copy within a conventionally bounded publication, I think there is room within my brief to experiment with the binding and folding techniques themselves, allowing me to express my themes of duality and perception within the appearance of the paper stock itself, and then giving it an extra edge by manipulating the body copy and disrupting the hierarchical systems within the innovatively bound document.
Typeface Selection
As “Invisible Cities” is based upon the 13/14th century travels of Marco Polo, and the elegant and poetic prose the book is written in, I feel my typeface choices should lie primarily within the serif category, The refined and beautiful look of well-placed and present serifs would work well to reflect the writing style of Polo and Calvino. However, I should not overdo the use of serifs, large overly luxurious serifs would bring illegibility with them, the text needs to be well set and thought about, not assumed and presumptuous.
Some thoughts for inital typefaces that fit this descriptions are below:
My options here all share a common theme within the category of serif, these typeface choices all have a high contrast. I think this aspect is positive as these typefaces generally look better when placed into large titles, given the large format that I must complete my work into this will play into my favour later on into the project, I do think that the typeface should reflect the writing style of Calvino more. Given how unusually structured the “novel” is, i think this element should be present within both the narrative and the type that tells it. Once again this should not be overdone, Calvino’s writing style is famously unconventional, but his writing still fall within the novel category, so any distortion/alteration should still allow the typeface to fall into the serif category, but should stretch the envelope in terms of its classification. I think the closest to what I want within the list above is “Lust Script” it almost falls into the slab serif category but isn’t quite conventional enough to find very similar examples elsewhere.
Brightfate is a serif typeface that has less contrast within the actual strokes of the type itself, however it does give itself larger contrast by having some unconvential aspects within the letterforms, after a short amount of research I have also found why I am finding heavier typefaces within the serif catagory more resonate with the themes within the book as well as the time period of Marco Polo himself.
Early teen century manuscripts are often seen within typefaces similar to that which i have been experimenting with myself. This also promotes the use of drop caps with decortate additions, this could be done by illustrating the drop cap illustrations myself or by supporting the letterform with several themed fluerons, acting as a garnish to the drop cap that could assist me in expressing the themes within the book.
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