This publication is a response to the ISTD brief Open | Close where we were asked to reimagine the narrative of the book by typesetting the first and final chapter. I chose "No Longer Human" by Dazai Osamu, and created a three part publication. The first chapter is split into two notebooks, "a mischievous imp", and "a clown", while the final chapter is the third notebook, "a good boy, an angel."
The notebooks are encased within a box that is wrapped with a rice paper band.
dimension: B6, 125 mm x 176 mm
paper stock: quill parchment paper, white, 90 gsm
rice paper: Jack Richerson's rice paper
binding: coptic binding and Japanese binding
The first and second notebooks are connected back to back since they are from the same chapter but offering different perspectives. For the first notebook, I pulled out the parts where the main protagonist attempted to be human, whereas the second notebook consists of the parts that reveals the protagonist's inner thoughts and struggles.
Through the use of negative space and experimentations with typesetting, I hope to convey the protagonist’s sense of isolation and his struggles of not fitting in with the rest of society.
The third notebook is the final chapter of the novel from the point of view of an unknown speaker. The use of rice paper and Japanese text (taken from the original novel) over a traditional Japanese grid is to reflect the protagonist's struggles to fit in with the rest of society - to be human.
❄ thank you for stopping by! ❄
。
。
。
。
