Type of Project
Typography, Editorial Design, Visual Communication
Objective
The objective of this project was to design a chapbook based entirely on a podcast of our choosing. I was tasked with using its’ transcript as the writing in the book and creating a consistent visual system that matched the tone and subject matter in a visually appealing way.
I found a podcast that was slightly sombre in subject matter, but great for the type of imagery I was looking to include in the book. It goes on to discuss the racism and discrimination that occurred in a Starbucks a few years ago, and how juvenile prisoners going to a high school in New Orleans look at their futures even though most of them are serving adult sentences. The use of a dark gray background contrasts well with the yellow and black display type on the cover and chapter openers. I primarily used black and white images to evoke strong emotions to give a sense of the injustice still going on in the United States to this day.
I went through plenty of variations for the cover by finding images that evoked feelings of separation, frustration, optimism, and unity. I thought of these keywords after reading the transcript. Slicing the title shows the separation of the inmates from society, while adding the light yellow color to "teachable", expresses the optimism they have with getting their high school diploma and being unified with the world.
The double column grid allowed for me to fill the page effectively and have visual interest with the contrast of black and white images with a few in color. I used dark gray backgrounds for the chapter openers to further the feelings of separation and frustration.
