There's a word I really hate. It's a phony. I could puke every time I hear it.
Holden Caulfield
This project is not only about redesign J.D. Salinger's The catcher in the rye, but creating a new version of the book that contains additional information.
You’re a phony main purpose is to highlight, through additional content, the protagonist’s rebellious teen voice regarding his critique of 1950s society, known for its consumerism and life-like appearances.
The project’s key word is phony – used by Holden Caulfield, a teenager and main character in the plot – which is repeated 35 times during the book to express his discontent with society’s hypocrisy. Also noteworthy is the importance of the 1950s American historical context and the influence of the book on the counterculture movement of the 1960s. These points guided the graphic and complementary content choices of the project.
The project is composed by four narratives: the original novel, the images that intersect the chapters, the article inserted in the dust cover and Holden’s quotations.
The images were chosen in order to illustrate the duality and contrast in how Holden sees society. Therefore, I decided to use ilustrations from the 50’s ads showing happy families in an artificial way and black and white photographs of New York streets and daily life during the 50’s by Vivian Maier. Somehow, these images represent two sides of the 50’s: the reality as it is (the Vivian Maier’s photos) and how “the phonies” pretend it to be (the ad images).
The images were arranged in the book and printed in risography in tones of gray and red scale in order to accentuate this contrast. While the publicity images were printed in red and placed in the first half of the publication, the photos were printed in grayscale and organized in the second half. Only in the middle of the book do the images meet and overlap eachother, like two simultaneous visions of a reality.
The article Holden Caulfield: The Marginal Player Made by Historical Context written by Zari Dorr in 2018, paginated in the dust cover, was chosen because of its portrait of Holden as a character on the margins of society, highlighting its influence on a generation of young people. In addition, the text contextualizes the reader about the historical period in which the book was written, being a link to understand the images used in the project.
The quotations inserted in the first and last page of the project are intended to highlight Holden’s teenage contradictions. The first sentence exposes Holden’s hatred for everything he considers false; phony. In the second quote, on the other hand, he assumes himself as a great liar, which goes against the idea of the first sentence. This raises the question of whether Holden is actually phony. The quotations were written manually on paper, using ink. Along with the title You’re a phony, they illustrate Holden’s voice and strong presence in the narrative.
The title You’re a phony works as a judgment and provocation from Holden the reader. The contraction you’re instead of you are refers to the spontaneity of spoken English, similar to the language used in the novel. On the cover, the title was developed in the same way as the quotations, as manual lettering, and inserted as an intervention on the article in the dust cover, revealing Holden’s rebellious and marginal character.
The risography printing of images and letterings was thought to emphasize the marginality of the protagonist. Risography can be associated with fanzines, publications considered as alternatives and even marginal. Because of its historical influence on the counterculture, they relate directly to Holden, who is regarded also as an outsider. The risograph images contrast with the sobriety of the printing of the original text.
Slightly different papers were used to differentiate the original text from the complementary narratives: recycled gray 120g paper and white 120g paper. The gray paper was used only to print only the novel. Its color makes reference to the winter of the days in which the history takes place, and also contributes to the sober and cold tone of the narrative. Also, the white paper was used for printing the images and dust cover, favoring the colors of the risography.
The project chosen palette is reduced to three colors: black, white and red. The black and white refers to New York city and the red, to the color of Holden’s hat. The fonts used were two: Helvetica for the dust cover and Garamond for the novel.
I'm the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life. It's awful.
Holden Caulfield
Although it was published more than 60 years ago, The Catcher in the rye theme remains contemporary. After all, the contradictions and rebellion typical of adolescence are timeless. You’re a phony proposes revisiting a literature classic by approaching it from the point of view of the teen protagonist, emphasizing his voice, his thoughts and criticisms through images and complementary texts. The additional information was organized to enable the reader to take the lead role in filling in the gaps, assigning meaning to the parts and relating them to the whole.
