Visual Storytelling Through Expressive Typography

Abstract

The short story “House Taken Over”, by Julio Cortázar is about two siblings living in a big ancestral home together. Throughout the story, something not specified is gradually taking over parts of the house, leaving the siblings with less and less space. By the end, the entire house is taken over, and the siblings have been kicked out of their home. In the story, the siblings have plenty of comfortable space and by the end, are constricted to a small area where it is crowded and uneasy for the two of them. This layout resembles the story by beginning with space between each line and ending very close together, almost overlapping. Dialogue is differentiated by being very spaced out, representing the attempt to hold their place in their home. An illustration of a door depicts every section of the house closed off, leaving less space to live.

The typeface Kefa was chosen to create dense text, which is ideal for this layout. Minimal color keeps the layout clean and legible. Purple and red highlight the contrast between the pleasant as well as the troubling experiences in the house. Decreasing point size, tighter kerning, and tracking is used to achieve the look and feel of the crowded text. Gradually increasing the column length takes over the entire page by the end, representing the house being taken over.

Department: Design

Faculty Mentor: Constanza Pacher