ISTD 2020 Submission
Paradiso Canto XXXIII
For this piece, I was awarded membership to the International Society of Typographic Designers. The book contains a typographic interpretation of the final chapter of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, Paradiso 33.
Cover
The sleeve of the book is inspired by a key line in the poem where Dante describes god as an effigy the same colour as it's background. This powerful paradoxical image intrigued me, in order to represent it filled both the text and background with the same pattern but transformed it so the text is still readable.
The chapter is split into four distinct sections first a prayer, followed by rises and falls as Dante comes closer to God. To denote these sections each begins with a double spread featuring two contrasting words from a paradox in that section.
Each section contains a total of four spreads, each designed to reflect the tone of the poem. As each section builds the typographic elements become more experimental and dynamic.
The drop caps are inspired by research into my target audience of fantasy enthusiasts and are draw from traditional fantasy novels. They highlight where on the page the reader should begin allowing the experimental type layouts to be more readable.
The warped typography was influenced by how Dante is left speechless before God. I wanted to communicate this inability to describe what he saw with the confusing warped type and then using a circle of light (imagery used within the poem) the reader reveals the words.
The colours chosen for the patterns relate to Dante's journey across the whole of The Divine Comedy. Red for Inferno set in hell, green and blue for Purgatorio, set in purgatory on Earth and finally the iridescent gold for Paradiso set in heaven.
The patterns are designed to be formless and shapeless to again reflect the indescribable nature of God. They also share a similarity with marble a natural material known for its strength and beauty encapsulating Dante's vision of God.
In the above spread the poem reaches its climax with Dante witnessing God. Below is the final page of the poem where Dante begins to forget. The dramatic change in pace reflects this with the final words of the poem fading away.
