A Journey Of Intrigue...

Restriction.
So with the restriction of one typeface; Helvetica Bold, and a limited colour palette I had to decide how to use one very complex, intriguing and beautiful item (see below), and take it's elements to create a relevant layout response.

With so much to work with and so many idea routes to choose from, difficult times lay ahead.. here is a photographic journey (and some words) of how I got from start to finish in three very short (...but sometimes long) weeks.
I found this file in Berlin, from 1952 containing letters to a 'Mr Herbert Ossa' in response to a personals ad in Germany (copy all in German)
From these studies I took the idea of obstruction and revelation, (as seen with the turn of each page) as a basis for my layouts and to create intrigue.

The Imagery.
I Developed slides from 1953, also found in Berlin. I wanted to crop, reveal and obstruct specific sections of the image to reflect what was being said in the copy.


(a selection from about 20)
The Copy.

So with the help of Kirsitna Voll(BA (Hons) Design and Art Direction), I overcame one of the largest obstacles within the project. I needed to find out the meaning of the copy... the fiel contained very complicated and intricate handwriting, which had to be painstakingly copied out and transformed to Helvetica...once I knew a basic idea of meaning.. I could then write the copy correctly ( I Hope).

(500 words)
The layout.

I initially used handmade layouts to create a sense of intrigue, I then dropped these into InDesign so I could compose my layouts. I felt playing with composition in this way was much more effective than going straight into InDesign..by experimenting with a number of different page combinations,this allowed me to create a vast number of trials before beginning a final layout.

The final 4.
So here are the final outcomes chosen from 16 InDesign layouts.( I will give a brief caption to explain the narrative in the copy...but try not to take away the 'intrigue'


Introduction of male/female relationship

Romantic element/location

introduction of second female figure (emphasis on women (junger dame)

Separation of two characters...not all stories have a happy ending.