Interpretive Haiku

Type Design, Visual Identity, Illustrator

Compose a visual and typographic interpretive sequence derived from traditional haiku poetry. Apply dynamic visual system while emphasizing simplicity, intensity, and directness.

Prompt

Selected haiku by Japanese poet Saitō Sanki; Toward the red sunset, the crowd silently, begins to run. Haiku utilized both abstracted and concrete elements, giving guidance to the visual language established through type and layout.

Research

Inspiration derived from traditional Japanese printmaking. Emphasized texture, color, line and shape. These elements inform future design solutions and provide an abstract lens for the haiku’s content.

Initial Sketches

Utilized geometric, systematic layout to semantically represent ideas. Create harmony between panels to establish cohesive, interpretive qualities that characterize the project’s visual language.

Exploring semantic meaning through geometric structure.

Digital Iterations

Focused on direction that geometrically defined and reflected the messages of Sanki’s poetry while establishing structure, adaptability, and simplicity. Reiterate semantic visual system through establishment of color.

Typography

Neue Haas Grotesk reflects the simplicity of the haiku’s message and visual system. Provides rigidity within the layout and doesn’t distract from meaning established through semantic elements.

Type enhances systematic structure created throughout spreads.

Final Spreads

Compose a visual and typographic interpretive sequence derived from traditional haiku poetry. Apply a dynamic visual system while emphasizing simplicity, intensity, and directness.