EDITORIAL TYPE - TYPOGRAPHY 2 2018
PROCESS
RESEARCH
The first step and probably most important step of my process was to find a speech. We were given no constraints on the content we were allowed to choose from for our speech. It could be from Televison, commencement programs, Ted Talks etc. The world was our oyster. With that being said, I decided right off the bat that I wanted to focus on a topic that I was passionae about. As I sifted through the Ted Talk website, I stumbled upon Peggy Orenstein’s talk entitled, “What Young Women Believe About Their Own Sexual Pleasure.” As I listened to this speech, I was passionate about the topic and was intrigued by Orenstein’s arguments and calls to action.
RESEARCH
I began to research potential type treatment, imagery, and layouts for my design. I also gathered secondary text. I decided that I wanted to pair Orenstein’s speech with poetry by Rupi Kaur. While I would not incorperate these poems into my design until later in my process, I still gathered them while conducting research.
DISCOVERY
After choosing my speech, I realized I had a challenge at hand and asked myself: “How will I make this book not-taboo?” Since the topic of Orenstein’s speech is sex, something that is typically seen as scandalous, I wanted to stray away from making the design of my book raunchy, and rather make it very tame so that I can express one of goals: making sex an accessible and comfortable discussion. I realized that this would require carefully chosen imagery, colors, and type.
And so the type specimen began...
What young women believe about their own sexual pleasure Regulator Nova (Light)
What young women believe about their own sexual pleasure Regulator Nova (Medium Italic)
What young women believe about their own sexual pleasure Sabbath Black (Regular)
What young women believe about their own sexual pleasure Mr. Eaves (Bold)
What young women believe about their own sexual pleasure Gastromond (Regular)
What young women believe about their own sexual pleasure Gastromond (Italic)
What young women believe about their own sexual pleasure Farnham
DISCOVERY
Bodoni (Book)
I spent three years talking to girls ages 15 to 20 about their attitudes and experience of sex. And what I found was that while young women may feel entitled to engage in sexual behavior, they don't necessarily feel entitled to enjoy it.
Fairplex Narrow
I spent three years talking to girls ages 15 to 20 about their attitudes and experience of sex. And what I found was that while young women may feel entitled to engage in sexual behavior, they don't necessarily feel entitled to enjoy it.
Mr. Eaves (Roman)
I spent three years talking to girls ages 15 to 20 about their attitudes and experience of sex. And what I found was that while young women may feel entitled to engage in sexual behavior, they don't necessarily feel entitled to enjoy it.
Baskerville (Regular)
I spent three years talking to girls ages 15 to 20 about their attitudes and experience of sex. And what I found was that while young women may feel entitled to engage in sexual behavior, they don't necessarily feel entitled to enjoy it.
Garamond Premier Pro
I spent three years talking to girls ages 15 to 20 about their attitudes and experience of sex. And what I found was that while young women may feel entitled to engage in sexual behavior, they don't necessarily feel entitled to enjoy it.
Mr. Eaves (Regular)
I spent three years talking to girls ages 15 to 20 about their attitudes and experience of sex. And what I found was that while young women may feel entitled to engage in sexual behavior, they don't necessarily feel entitled to enjoy it.
Frutiger (55 Roman)
I spent three years talking to girls ages 15 to 20 about their attitudes and experience of sex. And what I found was that while young women may feel entitled to engage in sexual behavior, they don't necessarily feel entitled to enjoy it.
Bell Gothic (Light)
I spent three years talking to girls ages 15 to 20 about their attitudes and experience of sex. And what I found was that while young women may feel entitled to engage in sexual behavior, they don't necessarily feel entitled to enjoy it.
Gill Sans (Regular)
I spent three years talking to girls ages 15 to 20 about their attitudes and experience of sex. And what I found was that while young women may feel entitled to engage in sexual behavior, they don't necessarily feel entitled to enjoy it.
What young women believe about their own sexual pleasure Gastromond (Regular)
I spent three years talking to girls ages 15 to 20 about their attitudes and experience of sex. And what I found was that while young women may feel entitled to engage in sexual behavior, they don't necessarily feel entitled to enjoy it.
Frutiger (55 Roman)
After much trial and error, I eventually decided on a final of combination of Frutiger and Gastromond. The combination of the chunky yet beautiful serif with the simple yet personable sans serif emphasized the idea of dichotomy, one that I would continually explore throughout my design.
DISCOVERY
I also started to gather imagery and experiment with different image treatments for my book. I began to be intrigued by the work of photographers such as Mayan Toledano, Petra Collins, and William Eggelston. Their photos hinted subtly at the topic at hand, while also creating this softer dream-like atmosphere within my book. This was crucial in helping me in my goal to make girls’ attitude toward their sexual pleasure an approachable topic.
DISCOVERY
As I gathered more and more imagery, I decided that I loved the full color versions of these photographers’ work. I thought it added depth and richness to my book. In addition, I thought they perfectly complimented my chosen color scheme. I noticed that these images also hinted at metaphors for the topic at hand. One of these metaphors would be a motif of flowers to represent sex and virginity throughout my design. Flowers also hint at what is typically seen as feminine and docile, emphasizing the stereotypes that young women often face.
DISCOVERY
I opted for a color scheme of pink, red, and yellow. I thought it added an inviting feel to the topic as well as played off stereotypically feminine aesthetics.
Here are some of my initial attempts at combining all of these components in my book design...
I incorperated larger pull quotes, smaller pull quotes within body text, and medium size pulls to highlight key messages in Orenstein’s speech and interact with imagery.
REFINEMENT
When I delved into the meat of Orenstein’s speech, I found one a common theme: the dichotomy between how boys view their sexual experiences versus how girls view their sexual experiences. Whether this be in sex education, societal conceptions, or moments in time, there seemed to be a jarring split in the confidence and values that boys and girls have when it comes to sex. I sought to communicate this upsetting trend through the motif of split imagery. I created literal divides in my image treatment to emphasize the idea of dichotomy. I also sought to reflect this dichotomy through pairing poetry by Rupi Kaur with Orenstein’s speech. The two texts act as complimentary foils to one another that communicate the imbalance in girls’ sexual attitudes versus boys’. This was also portrayed in my incorperation of secondary text. As mentioned before, I wanted to incorperate Rupi Kaur’s poetry. I decided to pair Kaur’s work with my large pull quote spreads to create a metaphor of inequality, imbalance, and dichotomy.
“ normalize those discussions ”
“ the world gives you so much pain and here you are making gold out of it. ”
- Rupi Kaur
REFINEMENT
Some examples of split imagery in my work...
REFINEMENT
As I continued through my process, I also began to consider the type of binding I would be using as well as my cover design. I opted for perfect binding. I did not want the binding to distract from the content of my book, and since my book design remained relatively quiet, I wanted my binding to act the same way.
REFINEMENT
I tried multiple routes for my cover. From colored paper, to cut outs, to solid covers, to use of imagery, my process for my cover was definitely one of trial and error. In the end, I settled on reflecting my idea of split imagery with a photograph by Mayan Toledano on the cover. I thought this photo was intriguing and I wrapped it around the front and back covers, to make the viewer work to figure out what it was depicting.
CRITICISM
The criticism I recieved was crucial to the success of my project. Since my design was a rather quiet one, it was crucial for me to find good scale balances and avoid emptiness. With the help of the feedback from my instructors I was able to do so. I learned how to properly balance my primary content with my secondary content as well as balance my color treatment. In addition, my peers and faculty were crucial in my image decisions. Like mentioned before, one of the main challenges of this design process was avoiding the scandalous and executing the design of this topic in a tasteful manner. When I was doubting whether or not I would be able to acheive this goal, my peers and instructors encouraged and helped me. The gave me helpful feedback on whether or not images and text treatment were effectively communicating the message that I hoped to deliver. In addition, the feedback I received on my binding was very helpful. I made edits to my binding techniques after receiving constructive criticism on my craft. Once again, I could not have completed this project successfully without the advice I received from my classmates and professors.
CRITICISM
CRITICISM
CRITICISM
This Process Book was designed by Ariela Basson for Typography 2 at the Sam Fox School of Visual Arts and Design, Fall 2018