Fiona Barnes-Brisley
Hamlet (Shakespeare: From Stage to Page)
Graphic Design
2021
Paper and Vellum
5.5x5.15"
Act I Scene I of Hamlet is explored in this book. This tragic play is begun with an eerie scene in which the watch guards first encounter the Ghost of King Hamlet. Photographed characters show their emotions through facial expressions and an established system of typographic treatment that distinguishes the emotion and intensities of their voices. This system is consistently used throughout all three books, but each book is given a unique ambience of its genre. Using scale, composition, weight and distortion, various emotions, volumes, and intensities are shown.The project also mimics experiences of theatre onto the printed page. The book begins with the user opening the curtains to reveal the scene, followed by a set of spreads that establish a set, becoming more brightly lit as the pages are turned. Echoes on a stage are mimicked by soft type that fades into the background during soliloquies. Characters enter and exit through folded flaps which bring a character onto or out of the boundaries of the page, or the stage. Moments of surprise are emphasized by pop-ups used selectively and sparingly. Sudden sounds are brought into our space through pull-tabs which express the sound travelling from its source to its destination. Additionally, the project seeks to encourage reflection and comprehension of the ever-relevant stories. Each play is given a supplemental workbook that playfully presents prompts and invites the reader to draw, write, doodle, and express their responses to the scenes. Unlike a traditional textbook-workbook duo, this workbook aims to be friendly, creative, visual and inviting. The pages of the workbook can be torn out, shared, hung on the chalkboard, and placed back into their scene's folders in the books. Also, at the back of the scenes themselves, three vellum sheets are given which provide scene-specific prompts that evoke reflection on the play. These can be written on and shared, and once again stored in their folder. The colour red is used in Hamlet to refer to a theatre’s curtains, the intense themes of death, power and anger, and to foreshadow the blood that is soon shed in the dramatic finale of the play.
“This project seeks to transform the text-only Shakespearean scripts often seen by adolescents as boring, dated or challenging into something lively, modern, digestible and exciting. Using emotional expression that aims to connect the reader to the story through facial expressions, typography, colour and composition, the project's goal is to take Shakespeare's work from the stage onto the page. Through a survey on the subject of preconceived notions of Shakespeare and reading, research was made on the views of his work, which tended to be either positive, or negative. An interview with a past high school English teacher inspired the use of Shakespeare's original English which is often not as difficult to understand as students may think. This interview also revealed the importance of Shakespeare's plays being watched and performed rather than simply read. It was this idea that inspired the idea of visualizing the play expressively through print. This project is one of three books created in the Shakespeare: From Stage to Page collection. Together, the project aims to immerse adolescents into a story’s world, connecting with their emotions and senses to elevate the story’s bond with the reader. Expressive typography, emotions, colour and interactivity work together to bring Shakespeare’s work from the stage onto the page. ”
Work by
Fiona Barnes-Brisley
Graphic Design
“How can print books become as captivating and compelling to Toronto high school students as a theatrical production, film or digital media? "Shakespeare: From Stage to Page" seeks to transform the...” [More]