Project 02: The Machine Stops
For our second project in term 2 we were asked to create a purely typographic response to The Machine Stops, by Edward Morgan Foster (1928) where the use of photographs, illustrations or other images are strictly prohibited.
The Machine Stops is a science fiction short story, with 12,300 words written by Edward Morgan Forster. It was first published in The Oxford and Cambridge Review in 1909 and later on it was republished in Fosters’ The Eternal Moment and other Stories in 1928. Since the short story itself has no images to it, it gives us the freedom to imagine ourselves how everything in the story looks like based on what the story tells us.
With typography and our design we were asked to identify key themes, characters, narratives, the tone of voices and locations. We need to consider how the layout, the typeface of our choice, the type size, hierarchy, colour, leading, typographic detailing and so on could enhance the narrative of the story. Is it possible that we can identify with our typography choices the different characters and tone of voices?
The final outcome of our typographic response needs to be print based. It can be anything from a book or a poster to even text printed on a balloon. Despite the freedom of the project, we need to make sure and consider how to format, structure and how materials can enhance the narrative. We need to find a way that the format we have chosen has a connection to the story.
Introduction
