The Red Badge of Courage
DURATION: 4 months
OBJECTIVE: My task was to design, personalize and construct a book that was banned from curriculum all across the nation. I had to identify the reason the book was banned and relate some form of personal experience or connection to that reason. I then used my design skills to visually communicate my personal take on the book.
BACKGROUND: For my book, The Red Badge of Courage, the author was criticized for not knowing enough about war or the experiences of real soldiers to write such a story. It is important to understand these battle experiences before one writes a book about them because the stress that soldiers endure during and after their service should be heard and respected the way they want. I ratified this issue by interviewing my relatives, who are or were in the military, in order to better understand real war situations and soldiers’ experiences.
RESEARCH: I first had to read the book in order to better understand the tone and theme of the story. I then had to study different typefaces and fonts so that I could choose the right ones for my book. I wanted them to be versatile and derivative of typography during that time period. Finally, I had to interview each of my relatives in the military (cousin, uncle and grandfather). I gave them a set of questions about their time in the military that were personalized to each man.
The Construction
STRATEGY: I wanted my book to look somewhat like a war journal, or at least a book one might find in the late 1800’s. I also wanted my “personal spin” to slightly correspond to the conflict; both external and the main character’s internal. To show conflict, I put the text into 2 columns, signifying the 2 sides of the Civil War. In the chapters that the main character fleas from battle to contemplate his own issues, there is only 1 column with wide margins on each side to show internal strife. I wrote short articles about each man in my family and used their experiences to shed light on what was authentic about the original story and what was not. Their stories also helped to underline the conflict that the main character faces.
CHALLENGES: Because I wanted to use 2 columns of text, I had to adjust my original type size and leading to make the page look less dense or “busy”. I also realized that the physical act of making a book takes a lot of precision and effort. If you fold a single page wrong or place the binding only a centimeter off, the reader could easily notice. Applying my concept took a lot of thought because I wanted the experiences of the main character to match-up with each article from my relatives based on their answers and incite. I learned so much about what it really means to serve your country and I discovered so many things about my family members that I never knew. It was, by far, one of the most interesting projects I have ever done.