Type Evaluation #5

This book cover, “You Will Hardly Know,” is a genius typographic composition. The simpleness of the composition and the play with color to make the title hardly noticeable. I love it! The typeface here is obviously hand drawn, but it’s so interesting because it seems like it’s made of lines and points. I really like the overtly geometrical treatment to the type. It’s as if the designer took a serif font and decided to turn it into a more futuristic font. Aside from the color the words are not too hard to read. At the same time the last two words “Hardly Know” are more difficult to read. Notice the difference in construction of of the letter forms. The “You Will” are simple letters, almost computer-looking. Then the “Hardly Know” is stretched, shrunk, and fit together in a way that makes the letters harder to distinguish, which is appropriate for the title. As far as readability I’d give it a 2 out of 10 because even thought you can make out the letter forms, it’s not overt enough to catch in a split second. But I think that’s what I love about it. I also really like the way the letters fit together because it makes me think about the way I search for something. The baseline shift is really effective. It reads like the title was hand sown into the cover or it’s a futuristic font. The title is actually de-bossed into the book (the opposite of emboss… the words are sunk into the cover). I wanted to point this out because it almost feels like a book about the future and who can have the future without craters from meteors or alien landings or whatnot. I think the designer worked effectively with the type to create the sense of wonder. It makes me what to go up and touch the book. It makes me want to ask what will we hardly know? It makes me wonder what kind of book it really is… is it about the future, or about the affect of technology. I really like the mystery behind it all.

Of course it’s nice to hear me ramble about how much I love this design, but it’s so much nicer to hear the designer talk about his own work. Christopher Sergio had this to say:  “…Håvard and I both agreed that we should attempt something a bit more abstract, and I was given free rein. My solution was to create this pattern, a deconstructed lettering-treatment that simultaneously spells—and hides—the book’s title… With the cover, I wanted to touch upon these influences, but without being too literal. So in my construction of the title, I reduced the letterforms to geometric squares and lines. We also used production to enhance the suggestion of craftwork, as well as the overall tactile experience. The book is cloth-over-board, and the title is de-bossed with pigment stamping. At the artist’s request, the last two words of the title (Hardly Know) are intentionally more difficult to read than the first two (You Will). It was the only time I’ve ever had a client ask me to ‘please reduce legibility.'”