letters to someone and anyone

•

letters to someone and anyone is the visual marriage of two separate typographic voices. The primary text, Letters to a Young Poet, by Ranier M. Rilke, is a series of ten letters written to a complete stranger (Franz Kappus) who had reached out to him for guidance in poem writing. By the end, however, the reader feels much more acquainted with Rilke, to the point of even friendship. His writing style is abstract and pensive — so much so that the letters read as journal entries, as a stream of thoughts on paper, rather than responses to a specific person. Despite the age of the text, many of the lessons and themes that Rilke emphasizes transcend the century of difference. The secondary text is derived from a piece that I wrote in a Comparative Literature class this spring. For that class, I had to write an interpretation of an existing text, whether it be a prequel, sequel, parallel, or re-invention. My own writing highlights specific personal memoirs dealing with both art and life decisions, as a contemporary parallel to Kappus. In joining the two texts, I hoped to create a dialogue between the two voices — and in doing so, explore the relationship between specificity and ambiguity, as well as between diversity and unity.

Full spreads of the book can be found here

Primary text: Simplon BP Mono Regular
Secondary text: Din 1451 Std.
Cover: Faux Leather
Paper: Neenah Classic Crest 24 lb Classic Cream

Laserjet printed, hand cut and bound for Typography II, taught by Lucinda Hitchcock
RISD Graphic Design, Spring 2015