OUGD504 - Study Task 05 - Typesetting

Page 1: Great Expectations: Seventy Graphic Solutions

This study task asked us to analyse the first page of Great Expectations by Charles Dickins, generating quick ideas and producing a range of outcomes through typesetting that communicate particular ideas and concepts, which could effect the ways in which we read the text.

 This first idea was based on the section of the passage which reads: 

"To five little stone lozenges, each about a foot and a half long, which were arranged in a neat row beside their grave, and were sacred to the memory of five little brothers of mine".

Based on this it was decided to typeset the passage of text into the shape of a typical 'stone lozenge', which Dickins used to describe the shape of the tombstones. To produce this effect the text was initially left aligned then by altering each line length. In this instance, hyphenation had to be used for many words and paragraphs were discarded to produce one large passage of text. This affects the readability of the text since it is hard for the eye to track the next line and the individual hyphenated words.

 This next idea was based on the section of the passage which reads:

"Ours was the marsh country, down by the river, within, as the river wound, twenty miles of the sea" and "To five little stone lozenges, each about a foot and a half long, which were arranged in a neat row".

Based on this, the idea was to arrange the text into five columns, representing each of the five stone lozenges which were said to be arranged in one neat row. This is then combined with the description of rivers and marsh country given in the passage. The text was centred aligned in order to produce what is known as 'rivers' in typography, where white gaps in typesetting appear to run through a paragraph of text due to a coincidental alignment of spaces. However, in this instance the rivers are deliberate to communicate this idea of rivers described in this passage of text.

The typesetting decisions made in these next two passages are made a lot clearer in the way the text has been set. This idea was based on the section of the text which reads:

"The shape of the letters on my father’s, gave me an odd idea that he was a square, stout, dark man, with curly black hair".

Based on this, it was decided to highlight the description of Pip's father by setting this in a bolder weight compared to that of the rest of the text. This was done in order to represent the idea that this man was dark, with black hair. This section has also used justified text in all lines and set within a square frame to mimic that 'square' appearance of his father. The remaining text has then been left aligned and worked around this highlighted section in order to produce more subtle, and slightly obscure squared shapes to enhance the communication of the father's description.

In this idea, the same principles have been applied, however, the remaining text which appears after the father's description has been left aligned into one wide column which continues down the page rather than working around the highlighted section. This has been done in order to represent the individual tombstone of the father, with the white space underneath representing 'empty space' and Pip's loss of his father which has left a gap in his family.