Coraline:
A Typographic Novella

A dramatic visualization of an already suspenseful children's novel to help bring the story to life

Deliverables
15 Spreads of Coraline by Neil Gaiman (Chapter 3 & 4)
A Printed Accordi0n Book

While exploring her new home, Coraline finds a secret door that leads to a life that seems perfect and magical. She soon learns the more she visits, the more she realizes things are not always as they seem.

As a suspenseful, whimsical children's story, Coraline offers an adventure that plays with a reader's imagination just with words. Here I use typography to enhance this same experience of the already beloved book.

"HOW DO I KNOW YOU'LL KEEP YOUR WORD?" ASKED CORALINE

The challenge

Typography can make almost anything fun. Playing with type within a book can even bring the story to life. I was tasked with choosing a book that I've read in the past and using grids and type to illustrate the story. We could only use one font family and any visuals we made needed to be created using only letterforms.

The solution

I choose to recreate a layout for the book Coraline by Neil Gaiman due to it's tone and themes. As a book that teaches kids that being scared does not mean you aren't brave, I decided to use type to illustrate the protagonists adventure as she faces monsters. I used type throughout this project to show movement, sounds, and suspense. I also had a lot of fun doing it.

The Spreads

With this project, I tried to narrate the events as they happen to Coraline with the text. I choose my placement of type based on what she was experiencing, creating a sense that the reader is right there with her.

Using grids & Type

The font I choose for this project is called Marcia because it looked playful and curious, just like Coraline herself. My grid was based around the decision to allow a lot of white space as Coraline feels very alone in the book, especially at the beginning as she had just moved to a new town. The emptiness around the text is to create that feeling of isolation.

The Accordion Book

With this project, I tried to narrate the events as they happen to Coraline with the text. I choose my placement of type based on what she was experiencing, creating a sense that the reader is right there with her.

Ne
xt Project
Impact Conference 2021
Abercrombie & Fitch