Study task 3- type setting (OUGD404)

We were given the poem 'A mouse's tale' from the book Alice in wonderland and told to type set it using modernist principles and postmodernist.

We started by sketching out how we were going to design our modernist page. We decided on a two column grid system but only to use one to create a lot of negative space. We would use Helvetica, left flush and try make the rag as neat as possible.

This is our final typeset. We decided for the title and author's name to use the same pt size font but make the title bold as you see this used in most Modernist design. We designed for an A5 piece of paper and used 10pt type so we could average 7/8 words per line. It was tricky getting the rag neat without leaving orphans and widows but eventually managed it. The only criticism we got was that setting the poem like this lost its rhythm in the way it rhymed but this was because we had focused more on the modernist principles of the design rather than the rhyme pattern.

Next for our post-modernist sketch we decided to still use a 2 column grid but break the rules and have each line of the poem on a different angle. This mirrored the careless running around of the mouse and the up and downs in the poem. It also relates to the elusive drug use theme throughout the book. 

We chose a typewriter font to relate back to the classic history of the book and to make it feel like it was the original writing. Also at the end we made the type look like the tail of a mouse. The only criticism we had on this design was that we should of made the title on angles also.