Setting the Stage Process Book

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Typography II Fall 2018 | Claire Warhover

Staring of slaver transfor powerfu as a lull

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PROCESS

oubts about her stature as a can novelist, of her own or any eloved’ will put them to rest. ss, it’s a hair-raiser.”

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Beloved

tale of African American loss ay Steven Spielberg’s ‘The Color ves deeply, heartbreakingly into an

Pengu an imp Pengu

US $15.99 CAN $19.99

setting the stage

17 15 12 09 06 05

introduction

inspiration

brainstorming

material tests

sculpting

typeface exploration

32 30 28 26 24 20

4 | setting the stage process book

scarring

photographing

revisiting type

final stage

cover refinement

criticism

introduction

Assignment In this assignment, you will be asked to design an expressive and eye-catching Book jacket, not in two-dimensions but in three. The emphasis for this quick, workshop-oriented project will be on the physical generation and conceptual development of dimensional type as it translates into a photograph for your book jacket. By creating a tangible “stage� upon which type becomes three-dimensional characters, you will find opportunities for investigation and exploration both in type as meaning and as material employed to support your ideas. This image will be used for the cover of your book.

inspiration

6 | setting the stage process book

I looked at typographic inspiration for ways that I could create depth through type, and also ways that I could create my type out of tactile materials. I knew some general directions that I wanted to take with my book cover, so looking at these images helped me imagine how those ideas could begin to take shape. Additionally, I looked at material inspiration for ways I could use materials to either integrate with the type or create the type out of.

8 | setting the stage process book

I also looked at illustrations that artists had done based on the book. Doing this helped get my thoughts flowing about different ways that I could represent the themes within the book visually. I especially liked the image of the house, because even though it is abstract, it conveys the emotions and plot of the book simultaneously in a single image.

brainstorming

10 | setting the stage process book

When I was brainstorming, I was drawing from a list of motifs and symbols that I had created from what I remembered from the book. The main images that stood out in my mind were blood, water, scars, trees, and the color pink on Beloved’s gravestone. I was also keeping in mind the more abstract themes of the book, such as trauma and the impact of repressed memories on slaves.

material tests

12 | setting the stage process book

I went forward with three ideas initially, and explored the way materials behaved for all three. Through the material exploration, I found that making the scar tissue allowed me to have the most control over the photography process, and created the most interesting textures.

14 | setting the stage process book

sculpting

In order to create the scars, I needed the surface to do it on, so my next step was sculpting the back. On the following page, you can see the reference images i used to get the back to actually look like a back. I struggled to get the shape of the waist at first, but I wrestled with it until I got it to look the way I wanted it to.

16 | setting the stage process book

Beloved

Beloved

Beloved

Beloved

Beloved

Beloved

Beloved

Beloved

Apple Chancery

typeface exploration

Snell Roundhand

Savoye LET

Plantagenet Cheroke

Plantagenet Cheroke

Plantagenet Cheroke

Beloved

Beloved

Beloved

Beloved

Beloved

Beloved

Hoeer Text

Cochin

Beloved

Beloved

Perpetua MT

Trattatello

Beloved Plantagenet Cheroke

Centaur MT

AT Times

Garamond MT

Beloved Didot

Atheles

Tribute

Baskerville

Beloved Apple Chancery

Beloved Snell Roundhand

Beloved Savoye LET

Beloved Beloved Perpetua MT

Trattatello

Beloved 18 | setting the stage process book

Plantagenet Cheroke

Once the back was sculpted, it was time to apply the type, so I had to figure out which Plantagenet Cheroke typeface I was going to use.

Beloved Beloved Plantagenet Cheroke

Beloved Plantagenet Cheroke

I liked Perpetua best for the treatment of the title, especially in all caps. Having Garamond MT the title in all caps makes sure that the top and bottom of each letter lines up, which would help make it clear Didot that the type was stretching over the back, swelling in the middle because it is higher.

Beloved

Beloved

Beloved Atheles

Beloved

Beloved

Beloved

Beloved

Hoeer Text

Cochin

Beloved

Beloved

Centaur MT

AT Times

Tribute

Baskerville

To apply the type to the back, I cut the letters out of black construction paper and glued them down to the back, loosely enough that I would be able to pull them up later if I needed to make changes. Once the type was glued down, I started to make the scars on top of it, which can be seen on the next page. First, I dripped glue in lines to create the raised look of the scars. I then painted these scars a pinkish-orange color to look the way I thought they should look at the time.

scarring

20 | setting the stage process book

I was unhappy with the way that the scars looked. It became evident that the color was way off once I photographed it, and the scars looked like they had been done in too regular a pattern. I decided that I would have to look at images of backs that have been scarred by whipping for reference in order to make the scars look more accurate.

WARNING: Graphic imagery of scarring on the following pages. To skip, go to page 22

22 | setting the stage process book

These photos are obviously not of slaves, they are of African women who are whipped by their husbands and other men in their community who are in charge of them. While I hated looking at these photos, I was glad that I did. I was able to produce scars that looked much more realistic and natural.

photographing

24 | setting the stage process book

In my initial photographs, I was happy with the way the scars looked, but not the way the type looked. It did not look like it was swelling across the curve of the back, it looked too flat.

From the photographing process, I also realized that I liked the look of the black background best, with the lace draped over the woman’s back like clothing. However, the lace was too white and stood out too much, so I decided I would dirty and tatter it to make it fit more naturally with the sculpted back.

revisiting type

26 | setting the stage process book

By warping the type in illustrator, I was able to quickly see how different shapes would look once they were glued onto the back. I wanted it to look like it was swelling across the back, while still looking natural, and the above type treatment did that best.

final stage

28 | setting the stage process book

Once I had my new type cut and glued on and the lace dirtied and tattered, my final stage was ready. I placed the sculpted back onto sheets of black construction paper, and laid the lace on top of the back in various configurations to test how it would look in different positions. I brought the whole set outside so that I could get the natural lighting on it, hoping to reduce the reflections that resulted from the shiny clay.

cover refinement

30 | setting the stage process book

Since I knew I was going to be using lace across the body, I initially wanted to be able to bring this lace into other places.

I tried including it in the back flap, but it did not allow me add text on the flap because of its texture. I realized that I preferred the all black look so that the texture and color of the cover stood out. Instead of integrating the lace in a literal way, I brought the color of the lace into the text on the rest of the jacket. For the final jacket, I also brought in a second, lighter text color to highlight certain elements, such as the reviewer names, and to add interest.

Staring unflinchingly into the abyss of slavery, this spellbinding novel transforms history into a story as powerful as Exodus and as intimate as a lullaby.

Sethe was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later she is still not free.

She has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. Her new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved.

TOni Morisson

Filled with bitter poetry and suspense as taut as a rope, Beloved is a towering achievement

by Nobel Prize laureate Toni Morrison.

Toni Morrison, original name Chloe Anthony Wofford, (born February 18, 1931, Lorain, Ohio, U.S.), American writer noted for her examination of black experience (particularly black female experience) within the black community. She received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993.

Morrison grew up in the American Midwest in a family that possessed an intense love of and appreciation for black culture. Storytelling, songs, and folktales were a deeply formative part of her childhood. She attended Howard University (B.A., 1953) and Cornell University (M.A., 1955). After teaching at Texas Southern University for two years, she taught at Howard from 1957 to 1964.

In 1965 she became a fiction editor. From 1984 she taught writing at the State University of New York at Albany, leaving in 1989 to join the faculty of Princeton University.

The central theme of Morrison’s novels is the black American experience; in an unjust society her characters struggle to find themselves and their cultural identity. Her use of fantasy, her sinuous poetic style, and her rich interweaving of the mythic gave her stories great strength and texture.

In 2010 Morrison was made an officer of the French Legion of Honour. Two years later she was awarded the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Praise for Beloved

Morrison

Beloved

“Doesn’t sanitize its tale of African American loss and survival -the way Steven Spielberg’s ‘The Color Purple’’ did -- but delves deeply, heartbreakingly into an American tragedy.”

“If there were any doubts about her stature as a pre-eminent American novelist, of her own or any other generation, ‘Beloved’ will put them to rest. In three words or less, it’s a hair-raiser.”

Toni Morrison, original name Chloe Anthony Wofford, (born February 18, 1931, Lorain, Ohio, U.S.), American writer noted for her examination of black experience (particularly black female experience) within the black community. She received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993.

The NewYork Times

“Beloved is one of the few American novels that take every natural element of the novel form and exploit it thoroughly, but in balance with all the other elements.”

The Guardian

Sethe was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later she is still not free. She has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. Her new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved.

iM Ton

Morrison grew up in the American Midwest in a family that possessed an intense love of and appreciation for black culture. Storytelling, songs, and folktales were a deeply formative part of her childhood. After teaching at Texas Southern University for two years, she taught at Howard from 1957 to 1964. From 1984 she taught writing at the State University of New York at Albany, leaving in 1989 to join the faculty of Princeton University.

Staring unflinchingly into the abyss of slavery, this spellbinding novel transforms history into a story as powerful as Exodus and as intimate as a lullaby.

Beloved

Good Reads

on ris

or

US $15.99 CA $19.99

US $15.99 CA $19.99

Praise for Beloved

Good Reads

The Guardian

Filled with bitter poetry and suspense as taut as a rope, Beloved is a towering achievement by Nobel Prize laureate Toni Morrison.

n

is o

US $15.99 CAN $19.99

Sethe was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later she is still not free. She has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. Her new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved.

rr Mo

“Beloved is one of the few American novels that take every natural element of the novel form and exploit it thoroughly, but in balance with all the other elements.”

Staring unflinchingly into the abyss of slavery, this spellbinding novel transforms history into a story as powerful as Exodus and as intimate as a lullaby.

Toni

US $15.99 CAN $19.99

The NewYork Times

Morrison

Morrison grew up in the American Midwest in a family that possessed an intense love of and appreciation for black culture. Storytelling, songs, and folktales were a deeply formative part of her childhood. After teaching at Texas Southern University for two years, she taught at Howard from 1957 to 1964. From 1984 she taught writing at the State University of New York at Albany, leaving in 1989 to join the faculty of Princeton University.

“If there were any doubts about her stature as a pre-eminent American novelist, of her own or any other generation, ‘Beloved’ will put them to rest.

In three words or less, it’s a hair-raiser.”

Beloved

Beloved

“Doesn’t sanitize its tale of African American loss and survival–the way Steven Spielberg’s ‘The Color Purple’ did–but delves deeply, heartbreakingly into an American tragedy.”

TONI MORRISON, original name Chloe Anthony Wofford, (born February 18, 1931, Lorain, Ohio, U.S.), American writer noted for her examination of black experience (particularly black female experience) within the black community.

She received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993.

Filled with bitter poetry and suspense as taut as a rope, Beloved is a towering achievement by Nobel Prize laureate Toni Morrison.

Penguin Classics an imprint of Penguin Books

Praise for Beloved

Good Reads

TONI MORRISON, original name Chloe Anthony Wofford, (born February 18, 1931, Lorain, Ohio, U.S.), American writer noted for her examination of black experience (particularly black female experience) within the black community.

She received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993.

critique

32 | setting the stage process book

US $15.99 CAN $19.99

The NewYork Times

“Beloved is one of the few American novels that take every natural element of the novel form and exploit it thoroughly, but in balance with all the other elements.”

The Guardian

US $15.99 CAN $19.99

Morrison

Morrison grew up in the American Midwest in a family that possessed an intense love of and appreciation for black culture. Storytelling, songs, and folktales were a deeply formative part of her childhood. After teaching at Texas Southern University for two years, she taught at Howard from 1957 to 1964. From 1984 she taught writing at the State University of New York at Albany, leaving in 1989 to join the faculty of Princeton University.

“If there were any doubts about her stature as a pre-eminent American novelist, of her own or any other generation, ‘Beloved’ will put them to rest.

In three words or less, it’s a hair-raiser.”

Beloved

“Doesn’t sanitize its tale of African American loss and survival–the way Steven Spielberg’s ‘The Color Purple’ did–but delves deeply, heartbreakingly into an American tragedy.”

Beloved

Staring unflinchingly into the abyss of slavery, this spellbinding novel transforms history into a story as powerful as Exodus and as intimate as a lullaby.

Sethe was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later she is still not free. She has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. Her new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved.

Filled with bitter poetry and suspense as taut as a rope, Beloved is a towering achievement by Nobel Prize laureate Toni Morrison.

Toni

rr Mo

n

is o

Morrison

�

Beloved

Penguin Classics an imprint of Penguin Books

At critique, I received good feedback from my peers. One criticism that came up from a few people is that they didn’t recognize the shape as a back, but they did recognize it as scarred skin. This raised the question for me, is it crucial that the shape is recognized as a back, or is the emotional impact upon seeing the scarring all that matters? A few people also noted that even though they knew it was skin, it was too shiny. Because of this, I hope to be able to mattify the clay using makeup and rephotograph for my final review. Finally, my peers suggested that I pay more attention to the microtypography, particularly the rag of the text on the flaps, which I agree with. Overall however, people not only liked the look of the cover but liked that it gave them an insight as to the content and emotional impact of the book.

34 | setting the stage process book

Claire Warhover Setting the Stage Process Book Typography II Fall 2018 Strada TF

Praise for Beloved

Good Reads

TONI MORRISON, original name Chloe Anthony Wofford, (born February 18, 1931, Lorain, Ohio, U.S.), American writer noted for her examination of black experience (particularly black female experience) within the black community.

She received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993.

US $15.99 CAN $19.99

The NewYork Times

“Beloved is one of the few American novels that take every natural element of the novel form and exploit it thoroughly, but in balance with all the other elements.”

The Guardian

US $15.99 CAN $19.99

Morrison

Morrison grew up in the American Midwest in a family that possessed an intense love of and appreciation for black culture. Storytelling, songs, and folktales were a deeply formative part of her childhood. After teaching at Texas Southern University for two years, she taught at Howard from 1957 to 1964. From 1984 she taught writing at the State University of New York at Albany, leaving in 1989 to join the faculty of Princeton University.

“If there were any doubts about her stature as a pre-eminent American novelist, of her own or any other generation, ‘Beloved’ will put them to rest.

In three words or less, it’s a hair-raiser.”

Beloved

“Doesn’t sanitize its tale of African American loss and survival–the way Steven Spielberg’s ‘The Color Purple’ did–but delves deeply, heartbreakingly into an American tragedy.”