Publishing: RBG Interview

This was a 3 part project. The first part was to design a book that focused on typography, the second part was focused only on images, and the final part was a combination of both typography and imagery. I primarily focused on this interview with Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Elle.

Book 1: Typography

This design for this book focused primarily on typography, though there are some decorative elements. I used scans of RBG’s lace collars as decorative elements to help break up parts of the interview. I experimented with text alignments, using left and right movement to help simulate the back and forth nature of a conversation. I also learned a lot about justification, practicing how to get rid of rivers and awkward spacing in order to make the text appear as natural as possible.

This was printed on newsprint as it was made to be easily reproducible and accessible. The binding was a saddle-stitch with rainbow thread as a reference to RBG’s work with LGBTQ issues.

Book 2: Image

When creative a collection of photos of RBG, I noticed that there was a clear chronological order to them and that it would work quite well in creating a timeline for her life. I wanted the format of the book to compliment the content so I made a scroll that was over 60 inches long. The scroll was printed on cotton fabric and stitched together with rainbow embroidery, the fabric and rainbow embroidery being a reference to how she embraced her femininity and also her work with LGBTQ issues. The extreme length of this format felt quite suitable in this instance, helping to express how long and fulfilled her life truly was in reflection.

Book 3: Synthesis

This book was focused on using both typography and images. The first two books were a bit more traditional and straightforward in approaching the prompt, so I wanted to try something more experimental with this book.

After spending so much time on the topic of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, I began to reflect on what I knew about her. At one point I thought I knew a lot about her, but then I realized that what I saw and knew of her was only how she presented herself to the public and also the way the media chose to see her. After her death, she had become immortalized as both an image and a symbol, but images by nature are quite deceptive. Photography in particular is interesting because it promises truth and “realness” when in reality it can be just as deceptive as a drawing or painting. In this book, text is treated as an image and photographs are edited and cropped in drastic ways in order to highlight the fact that photos can be easily manipulated and distorted to fit the needs of the creator.