Virtues of Design
A fusion of Gui Bonsiepe's essay Virtues of Design and My Chemical Romance's The Black Parade. My Chemical Romance's lyrics and visuals highlight Bonsiepe's observations and predictions regarding the future of design.
Photos and Content: Gui Bonsiepe,
My Chemical Romance
The Intent
For This project, I carefully selected MCR's Welcome To the Black Parade for it's exceptional storytelling. With the album's theatrical nature and intriguing themes of death, I aimed to convey a similar sense of dramatic narrative within the book's design.
The Black Parade explores the complexities of life and the process of moving on from those we love. The blurred, deteriorated text visually reinforces this sense of transition and emotional uncertainty.
Killing the Type
The Photos
To unify the themes of the book, all photographs and secondary elements were treated in a muted red palette. Red carries varied cultural meanings, symbolizing luck and fortune in some contexts and misfortune or death in others. This ambiguity allows readers to interpret the album’s narrative in multiple ways. In relation to Bonsiepe’s design virtues, the approach reflects a “less is more” philosophy and emphasizes the role of contrast.
I strived to evoke a sense of dramatic narrative within the book, while effectively communicating Gui Bonsiepe's Virtues of Design. Many of the book's aesthetics is based from the album, from the color palette to the decaying look of the type.
The Mission
The Cover
The cover is design is inspired by the roofs of catholic chapels, the strong symmetry and great height, to connect the themes of religion and death in My Chemical Romance's album once more.
