This is a typographic project involving unconventional structures. The purpose of this project was to create an unconventional paper structure around a concept pertaining to an anniversary of our choosing, and to achieve a proper typographic system on the structure.

 

After choosing my subject of the Crossword Puzzle’s 100th Anniversary, I started my process by brainstorming, mindmapping, sketching and researching. I arrived at the concept of building block which identifies crossword puzzles as a step-by-step process, both as itself and throughout history.

The structure is a 225-page maze book which folds out to one large-scale crossword puzzle. The piece starts off as a block, and then initially unfolds to a diamond shape, the shape of the very first crossword puzzle published in 1913. It continues to unfold to form the shape of a square, today’s crossword puzzle format. There are two sides to the piece: one side contains twelve numbered clues whose solutions connect to each other by shared letters, and which also spell out a quote altogether. The reverse side contains quotes about problem solving that wind through the folds, directing the puzzle solver on which direction to unfold the piece.

The typeface family used is  Goudy Old Style. This was the typeface in which the 1913 crossword puzzle was printed, and today it speaks to the puzzle’s historical journey.