Trapped - Edgar Allan Poe
Our editorial brief required us to work on a 50 page-long publication focused on one author. I decided to collect four of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories in one book called "Trapped". Each story contains some feeling of confinement and claustrophobia, which I wanted to translate into expressive typography in this publication.
The book itself is "trapped" in a cardboard case (silver marker lines mimic prison bars) only showing the author's name. It adds some mystery and prepares the reader for the dark stories they are about to discover.
The spine has been left visible to keep the impression of prison bars closing the pages. I used coptic stitches with a black waxed thread to achieve this.
Each spread is different and contains either expressive typography (title or quote) that brutally interrupts the natural flow of the pages, or some text treatment that changes the original layout. They all emphasize the feeling of confinement one can feel while reading the stories.
What really works here is the high contrast between huge thick letters and a regular serif font. The bold letters push and oppress the text while the serif font is similar to the ones used during Edgar Allan Poe's time (1800-1850).
The brief also required a poster and a digital piece.
The poster uses the same typeface as the book cover, but the entrappement is enhanced by the surrounding black square. The author's name frames the whole picture to increase the sense of scale (tiny title versus huge author's name).
I chose to create an animated gif in Photoshop as a digital piece. The movement echoes the movement of breathing, which is what the reader and characters struggle to achieve throughout the book.
Thank you for taking the time to look at my project!
