21st Century Shakespeare aims to provide students of a wide variety of ages with a resource for Shakespeare’s most popular plays. This first issue focuses on the tragedy of Macbeth, it has been based upon Edith Nesbit’s short story of Macbeth but has been modernised in order for a contemporary audience to be able to relate to the story. Using quotes taken from the original text I was able to bridge the gap from the new to the traditional.
The design itself was minimalistic to prevent information and text from being lost, the story is clear whilst the grid still allows for each spread to hold an element of interest. The imagery intertwined within the numbers is key to the overall visual aesthetic, it will allow the reader to imagine the scene with far more ease. I always found it difficult to imagine characters when reading Shakespeare as the stories were so far removed from the current day. The colour palette relates to the Royal Scottish colours, Scotland being the location in which Macbeth was set, the colours also lent themselves to the black and white photography and large scale type that features throughout. 21st Century Shakespeare brings Shakespeare's legendary Macbeth into the modern day.
The design itself was minimalistic to prevent information and text from being lost, the story is clear whilst the grid still allows for each spread to hold an element of interest. The imagery intertwined within the numbers is key to the overall visual aesthetic, it will allow the reader to imagine the scene with far more ease. I always found it difficult to imagine characters when reading Shakespeare as the stories were so far removed from the current day. The colour palette relates to the Royal Scottish colours, Scotland being the location in which Macbeth was set, the colours also lent themselves to the black and white photography and large scale type that features throughout. 21st Century Shakespeare brings Shakespeare's legendary Macbeth into the modern day.
Project: 21st Century Shakespeare
Category: Editorial, Typography
Sector: Education
Year: 2014
Award: International Society of Typographic Designers
Collaborator: Edith Nesbit
Category: Editorial, Typography
Sector: Education
Year: 2014
Award: International Society of Typographic Designers
Collaborator: Edith Nesbit
