I had a lot of fun with this project. The goal was to organize large amounts of information into an interesting form that also conceptually expresses the content itself. I chose to synthesize and summarize the first 25 years of Magic the Gathering. This was an opportunity to share my passion and showcase some amazing art. To really focus on the structure and layout I chose to limited myself to one typeface.
The challenge
I had one goal for the book: a helpful guide that sparks your curiosity to explore everything Magic has to offer. A way to spread my love for the game and a something I wished I had when I began playing Magic. I wanted to create a beautiful yet practical tool; where form and function are both at their peak.
The timeline
Flipping through books about the histories of products made me realize the best way to represent time is nonother than using a timeline. Ingenious! I wanted to take the idea further, to create a line that spans the entire book. From cover to cover, the line serves to unify spreads and provide a sense of flow and continuity.
tabel of contents
Chapter titles and page names sat at the bottom of the spread. Allowing the line to cleanly cut between them, creating hierarchy.
chapter openings
With the entire spread taken up by stunning artwork, these pages are unique and unmissable. Creating a clear and impactful indication that you are turning to a new chapter.
spread & grid
This is where the line is at its most functional. Being used as an actual timeline, moments of interest can be put into perspective.
The index
The index categories were joined with the line by reducing them down to an simple outline. Creating something clean and organized while not sacrificing legibility.
I ended up with a clean grid, however quite limiting. It was not designed to handle more than six entries of information, and, looking from a bird's eye view, the contents on each spread could also be more balanced. For the index pages, I want to also explore a way to visually distinguish it from the rest of the book. Perhaps giving them a black background with white text will make them standout and indicate a change of section.
If you are interested or play Magic, I invite you to also take a look at my Cube.
