ISTD SUBMISSION - Merit
Typographic print and publication design
I was awarded ISTD membership with Merit for this submission to the International Society of Typographic Designers.
Theme: Lost
Towards the end of the Nazi reign, Hitler’s party began destroying, disposing and hiding secretive documents, treasures and war materials. Lake Toplitz is an area where, it is believed, some of these items are concealed. Since diving in the lake is a difficult and dangerous task these items remain hidden in plain sight. Already, Nazi possessions have been recovered from the lake, yet it is believed there is much more lost in the lake’s depths, unable to be retrieved. This book explores the timeline of diving attempts to retrieve lost artefacts from the lake.
Conveying the idea that Lake Toplitz a mysterious place with an ominous past, as well as the tactile qualities of such deep, eerie water were key influences in guiding stylistic choices. The story of Lake Toplitz spans across 60 years where various technologies have been utilised to aid the search for lost artefacts. Sonar scanning, in particular, has influenced my design through the use of digital glitches and spot colour. This combination of the lake’s ominous qualities along with the technology used to explore it forms the basis of the design choices.
The astonishing depth of the lake has inspired other typographic interpretations where text warps and appears to float. The numerous items that lay underneath layers of organic matter in the murky depths of the lake has been shown through the use of repetition and layering of semi transparent paper.
Rectangular boxes feature throughout the document. This shape is indicative of the numerous boxes recovered from the lake as well as the rectangles seen on the sonar mapping. These box shapes have directly informed the layout of body copy, which at times is framed by rectangular boxes and other times as if framing boxes which are not visible.
Poster:
