This booklet was a college project focused on the typeface Palatino, a classic old-style serif typeface designed by Hermann Zapf after World War II. Palatino is known for its elegant letterforms and strong readability, making it a staple in both printed and typographic design contexts.
I explored Palatino’s historical context and visual characteristics, integrating post-World War II imagery of Germany to bring emotional resonance and narrative depth to the project. By using powerful visuals from that era alongside large, expressive letterforms, I created dynamic layouts that gave space for both imagery and typography to breathe.
Examples include placing characters directly into photographic compositions (e.g., figures interacting with oversized letters), which helped maintain visual interest while delivering typographic content.
Results
Despite the strict limitations, the final booklet communicates both the history and design qualities of Palatino in an engaging way. The large lettering and duotone color choices helped make each spread feel intentional and readable, while the historical imagery added context and depth. I’m proud of how the project balanced creativity with constraint and produced something visually compelling within strict guidelines.
overview
Challenge
The goal was to showcase Palatino’s history, structure, and usage, while adhering to strict constraints:
Only use the Palatino typeface throughout the booklet
Include two images per page (except the cover)
Document the full alphabet (uppercase and lowercase) and numbers 0–9
Respect a 20,000-word per page limit
Use a limited duotone color palette
These parameters pushed me to think creatively about layout, typographic hierarchy, and how to balance text and imagery effectively while also making it look visually interesting since I had a muted color palette to work with.