Invisible Cities is split into many categorys with 55 cities in total. Given that they are all very different and the brief suggests to complete just four tales I feel I should deconstruct all of the cities by analysing the text in its entirety and then proceeding to take the most interesting/expressive cities out of the 55 and then select four that I will work with more closely to discover my more refined concepts, these four cities can then be used as subjects for examples of visual and typographical experimentations throughout the remainder of the project.
Input Slideshow of the four pages with my chosen cities on here
Images from Ipad of deconstruction of chapter one cities here
After deconstruction and analysis of the cities it not only allowed me to find the most interesting and expressive but also gave me much better insight by allowing me to build up my own opinion of the text rather than simply examining others deconstruction of the book. Given that perception is a key theme of this book and so the consideration of myself and my thoughts is as vital as others I think this will assist me greatly moving forward with competition brief.
My four chosen cities for experimenting fall within several chapters but all share some very similar themes, this variance in execution but similarity in theme will allow me to treat them not disimilar to a brand, with repeating visual elements that are consistent throughout but different pace settings and hierarchies that keep the reader engaged with the content throughout.
treating the cities as a brand allows me to engage most of my preivously learnt knowedlge, given brands commonplace occurence within my studies, I have a plethora of techniques and process on how to develop them while still allowing me to create different styles of experimentation within this newer format of publication and editorial design, actively pushing me out of my comfort zone, but still allowing me to draw on my specialist techniques learnt previously.
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.
My three initial responses were found from within the themes of the book itself, mentioned in a previous entry the use of decay and a passage of time have been further explored and some potential design opportunities have been thought up that fall within this category, Using an unexposed UV paper stock that retains it’s white colour, with white text printed onto the blank paper and then packaging the book itself into a UV protected covering so that once the book has been opened the white text will begin to show while the page behind it begins to over expose into a gritty brown/black colour as images or text could be shown in white, allowing a slow reveal effect to be achieved. This could also be used to have pages decay and age into over exposure as the paper is revealed to the sunlight the content would disappear before the readers eyes.
I think this is an interesting and unique technique that I have not found used anywhere else as of yet, but it would need to be used sparingly as to retain maximum impact and must be used with extreme thought as not to become an inconvenience. I think an ideal place to use this would be the front cover as it would be seen as soon as the book is taken out of the packaging and so would be fully visible throughout the full “Decaying Process”, or throughout the full “Revealing Process”.
The decaying of the cities is a more literal technique that could be used within this this response. It would have to be used innovatively and sparingly in order to avoid becoming a cliche, but it would also have to be commonplace in appearance as to form part of the book “branding”. A slow decay throughout the pages of elements of the content within would perhaps be an interesting idea to experiment with, or alternatively a more literal manifestation of the idea that something can become so big and expansive that it must begin to decay and separate from itself, this is seen often within typographical techniques, often done by placing similar words or phrases of varying sizes across the page and constantly replicating and placing them over the previous phrases until the black text fills the entire background and then becomes the background itself, however in the process becomes illegible itself.
Typographic Illusions
The combination of the themes of perception and sense have prompted me to explore the idea of including typographic illusions within my redesign for “Invisible Cities”. This concept is supported by the fact that the cities themselves are illusions, told to the Khan both as a way to distract him from his crumbling empire and to subtly reminding him that everything great must come to an eventual and natural end.
Typographic illusions are great in number and in variance, there are three main types of illusions, Literal, Physiological and Cognitive. The two first types could be used within the context of “Invisible Cities”, Literal illusions can be altered in appearance simply by thinking about how they look a different way, correlating with the idea that each person is free to interpret each city in different ways, it all depends on how they view/interpret different types of information. Physiological illusions are caused by the over stimulation of the brain and so as a result will appear distorted and unnatural, this correlates with the cities themselves as often they are too great to appear real or sometimes too fantastical to be imagined in some places and so they lose their believable factor.
The use of hiding and revealing could link in with either of the two above concepts, specialist binding such as tear able French folding could allow me to hide certain information from view until it is opportune in order to create a subtle message or give a visual extra impact, allowing it to appear within its own spread or page. Shadows are often used to portray hide and reveal effects and while I do think this is quite cliche, it does correlate well with the common appearance of this “double city” that appears within the physical city, allowing the true city to cast off a secondary, dreamt of or idealised image that the inhabitants wished for or want to see within their city. A use of Augmented reality triggers could be used to show the two sides of the city and as well the story of both the structures within the city and the story of the characters that exist within it.
My techniques will likely be changed and refined once I begin to deconstruct indivdual cities in more detail and begin the selection process for what inital four tales I will choose to illustrate typographically.
My two spreads for redesign are of similar style, but varying complexity, one with much more body copy than the other allowing for a greater contrast in styles once they are redesigned.
My Spreads
My redesigned spreads attempt to show a varying range of techniques as well as showing how you can differ the hierarchy or reflect symmetry in different ways, through both imagery and through type.
I preferred experimenting with the “The Harmony of Worlds” spread as it contained a smaller amount of body copy and more interesting imagery within it, I liked how i was able to create a sense of symmetry but doing so through two different medias, one page structured with body copy and one page having a similar structure, but done with imagery of planets provided within the original spread. The creator of the spread states how the words are to appear lost in space, however I think there is far too much structure within the original spread for this to be evident, I have attempted to work this into my work, particularly within the first example where I have also tried to fill the page more to give a greater sense of scale to the imagery while at the same time, have the body copy appear smaller and “Lost in Space”.
The larger amount of body copy within the second spread forced me to include a greater structure to the spread, but it did allow me greater contrast with the hierarchy throughout. By altering the wording and spacing of the titles I could force the hierarchy into more unconventional ways without the inclusion of extra information, this was helpful due to the larger amount of body copy present within the spread.
This exercise was useful in getting me back up to speed on how to effectively design the different furniture available to me within editorial spreads as well as reminding me just how much is available and how easily the entire look and feel of a spread can be changed simply by adjusting the heading into different sections or by flipping a spread around slightly. I think that moving forward I should conduct further exercises and research into the minute details of editorial design as I found that lacked some knowledge on building paragraphs correctly and the inclusion of lesser known editorial techniques that will no doubt become of use if I learn and practice them early within this project before moving into too much refinements of my concepts that I will theorise and then proceed to create.
After reviewing and making notes on the brief some of the most important parts and phrases within the brief include; “Radical Retelling”, here the brief is clearly looking for something new and innovative, prompting me to think I must think far outside the box, I think that this will match the overall structure of the book and Calvino’s writing style, both are unorthodox and fall outside the norm of novel writing. This is then hinted at again within the brief by mentioning the book does not have to remain purely physical, a plethora of alternative outcomes are mentioned, this is to promote those undertaking this brief to engage in large amounts of experimentation in not only visual language, but also in format and even in binding options. Every part of this brief presents me with a multitude of options for experimentation before I even see the book itself.
I think the key to finding success within this brief will lie within experimentation, engaging in as many different outcomes as I possibly can within the time frame will not only allow me to achieve a greater range of typographic skills, but also allow me to find the best possible outcome before Christmas.
Picking Apart The Book
As for the book itself, It is written from the original stories by Marco Polo who lived between 1254-1324. He was a venetian merchant who was given access to exploring the Mongol empire by the Khan of the Mongols at the time Kublai Khan. This gave one of the first Europeans and opportunity to explore Asia on the condition that he report stories of what he saw back to Kublai Khan. Containing stories of 55 cities in total, as well as intermittent imaginary stories between Polo and the Khan as they contemplate various philosophical subjects together.
The cities themselves do not exist, and it is doubted any of them ever existed, they vary in believability throughout, from rich cities to poor and from fortresses to cities built in webs suspended atop a chasm. Throughout the book a number of different themes and recurring patterns can be spotted, these include; Decay as well as the passage of time itself, it is possible that the entirety of the cities mentioned were told to the Kahn with the intention of mimicking both himself as an aging leader of a huge empire, and for the empire itself that is described as so large that it begins to detach from itself, similar to those supergiant stars within deep space who’s size is so large that the gravitational forces within the centre cannot hold the outer most material. The theme of decay and a passage of time is interesting to me as this present a large number of typographical opportunities that I could begin to explore, the decaying of the book and pages within as the reader progresses or the over exposure of pages that cloud the fantastical cities towards the second half of the book.
Another commonplace theme is perception, as these cities do not exist in real life, they exist only within the pages of “Invisible Cities”, the overall image of each city is entirely subjective, while Marco Polo writes poetically and detailed about each cities, what the reader interprets the descriptions as is entirely up to them, this also brings up the idea that these cities only exist for as long as you hold them in your mind, they are constructed not of steel, but of thoughts, once the page is turned or the book is closed, they will inevitably decay to nothing, like the aging Khan and his colossal empire which he commands. This idea of perception is also found within Polos descriptions themselves; he does not often focus on the material things that exist within the city, but the people, conversations and memories/traditions that exist. To me this presents the perfect opportunity for typographical exploration, building cities of words would be a linear and cliche way of answering this brief, but it may be a good starting place to allow my ideas to bloom from.
Other prompt words from this book would include Imagination, Truth and deception. These words tend to appear in pairs, as well as the cities themselves, one city is not one city alone, within the vast majority of Polos descriptions a less literal city can be found within each story, one of secondary thought or one that was hoped to be built/one that was constructed only in the inhabitants dreams. This sense of duality and co-existence is present throughout and found more often than any other theme mentioned previously.
Moving forward I must deconstruct the cities themselves, as task of showing each of the 55 cities is not possible within the given time frame, the brief mentioned that only four tales need to be demonstrated as well as a cover, and introduction page alongside a title page. Further reading of the book is sure to bring more themes and common appearances of phrases/characteristics that could be investigated with more detail and a varying lens.
My competition Brief for this year is within ISTD, I decided to choose an ISTD/Typography brief as I think that is the area of graphic design that I need to work on strengthening most, this alongside it’s constant presence within Graphic Design meaning it is not something that I can escape developing, given my noticed weakness within typographic works in my previous projects this will be a tough brief to fulfil, hopefully pushing me far out of my comfort zone and allowing me to focus purely on typography for a number of weeks will then arm me with a large plethora of specialist techniques for using typography in the future as well as a better general understanding of typography/editorial design overall.
I hope to achieve this by conducting large amounts of experimentation, this is the reason for my specific brief selection within ISTD, I feel of the selection this was the most experimental as I have the opportunity to not only create title pages and covers for the book above, I also have the opportunity to express at least four tales within the book, expressed solely with typography. This part of the brief attracted me especially, the complete focus on typography will mean that I cannot rely on my image creation skills that I find more refined to cover up any mistakes and missing parts I have within my typography skills. There will be no easy way out and I will have to dig right into typographical and printing techniques in order to express the complex novel that I have tasked myself with.
Through analysis of many previous award winning entries of ISTD briefs I am noticing a number of consistent trends within those that achieve merits or higher; The variance of printing techniques in order to achieve varying degrees of finishes are notices, not sticking to a standard ink print may be needed. Most noticed is the use of digital stitch in a commendation awarded piece used to reflect the texture of a tennis court and the grass that would be put there, I think this contributed to the commendation award as it clearly displayed not only an acute understanding of the brief that was issued, but also a showcase of the designers broad skill range and professional quality finish. This will need to be considered within my work, due to the fact my brief is centred around a book, it would be easy to fall into the trap of illustrating my concepts as they would be presented within any other book, not having my work stand out among the pile would not ensure that I achieve an ISTD.
Supporting this point is the fact that the brief mentions that Invisible Cities, “Despite being called a novel, is not truly a novel at all”. This clearly unorthodox approach to writing must be reflected in my response to the brief, this will be explored further when I follow up by picking apart the brief further and begin considering initial concepts in response.
A trap I normally fall into when creating editorial/heavily typographical pieces of work is that I often do not give enough space to different elements of the type, if something needs an entire page to sit on, on its own to have its maximum effect, I should consider doing that regardless of if the rest of the page is not containing information and it inevitably extends the overall page length of my publication/editorial. This technique is seen throughout the examples of best practice, and even seen within some of the ISTD covers, just having a simple heading on a plain background is enough if it can be supported by sufficient reason and research into why that particular work is no nonsense and needs to be simplistic.
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