The deliverable for this project was a typography-focused cover for a book based on Jan Tschichold's life, work, and legacy. The goal was for the type to reflect the content of the book. To achieve this, we experimented with hierarchy in particular; we learned how different colors, weights, and layouts communicate hierarchy.

The first design is based on the Van de Graaf canon, a historical reconstruction of a book design method to divide a page in pleasing proportions. Tschichold popularized the Van de Graaf canon as he used it heavily in designing books.

The typefaces used are DIN and Adobe Garamond Pro to reflect his transition from German modernist sensibilities to a more traditional approach to typography. Additionally, Tschichold created the typeface Sabon, which is based on Garamond. Sabon is considered to be one of the most legible typefaces for print.

The colors used are blue and orange; blue to echo guides from Adobe products, and orange because it is complementary.

This design uses the typefaces Univers and Serifa to signify modernist and traditional styles. "Master Typographer" has Univers and Serifa overlapping each other to show how the letterforms are based on each other. This is to signify how both the modern sans serif and the classical serif are integral to Tschichold's identity as a designer.

The sparse use of the grid signifies Tschichold's belief in structure; though the grid is not complete, the viewer knows that there is a basic skeleton for the design underneath.

Red and blue were used to evoke a simplicity. Tschichold often used basic principles to great effectiveness.

The typefaces used were Univers and Serifa. For "jan tschichold," I brought back the interaction between Serifa and Univers, but used a different technique to highlight their differences and similarities. Instead of directly overlapping the letterforms, I cut them in half and stacked Univers on top of Serifa. 

To further underline the duality of his classical and modernist styles, I overlapped the Serifa "Master" with the Univers "Typographer."

The image used for this design comes from a postcard of Leipzig in 1902 (Tschichold's birthplace and birth year). The illustrations as well as the handwriting signify his origins as a sign-maker's son. The change from sans serif to serif, as well as the cut out effect of "jan tschichold", illustrates his departure from his roots.

Process in Dropmark.