The War In Donbass
The book cover for The War In Donbass features a design reminiscent of USSR propaganda manifestos and posters. The stark and skewed typography clashes with the clean aesthetic, alluding to the catastrophic nature of war.
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Title page
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“We dread the quiet times”
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“That’s when you know they’re saving up for something heavy” – Ukrainian Citizen
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Table Of Contents
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Chapter 1 – Introduction
The War In Donbass is a typographic exploration into the annexation of the region of Donbass in Ukraine, by the Russian government. The book is designed in a progressive and exponential manner in that as the reader flips the pages, the text slowly creeps up. As each chapter progresses, the text rises to showcase this feeling of annexation. Moreover, this adds to the exponential nature of war–as the more time it takes, the worse the effects are, and they multiply. As the chapters progress, they get shorter and shorter as more text fills up the space.
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Spread from Chapter 1
As the pages flip, the text adheres to the layout set at the start of the chapter.
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Chapter 2 – History Of The War
The book features a hierarchical typographic system, using two typefaces – Standard and Prestige Elite. I chose to use them because Standard is a font that was used in many manuals (hence the name Standard), while Prestige Elite is a font based on early type-writer fonts, elucidating the rigid nature of military documents.
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Chapter 3 – Government Counter-Offensive
The start of each chapter features a black block on the left. This serves as a visual device for the reader to observe the progressive annexation of Donbass.
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Spread from Chapter 3
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Animation of book progression
One can notice how as the chapters progress, the text begins to rise, alluding to annexation.
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Chapter 4 – Post-Referendum Fighting
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Spread from Chapter 4
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Chapter 5 – Escalation In May & June
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Spread from Chapter 5
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Chapter 6 – Post-Ceasefire Government Offensive
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Spread from Chapter 6
The hierarchy is prominent here, with various different paragraph styles being used in harmony – pull quotes, headings and body text.
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Spread from Chapter 6
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Chapter 7 – Government Push Into Donetsk & Luhansk
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Chapter 8 – Counter-Offensive By Pro-Russian Force
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Chapter 9 – September Ceasefire
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Chapter 10 – November Separatists Elections
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Chapter 11 – Escalation In January 2015
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Chapter 12 – Minsk II Ceasefire & Denouement
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Chapter 13 – Combatants
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Chapter 14 - Russian Involvement
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Chapter 15 – Humanitarian Concerns
The block on the left which has been serving as a visual device now almost completely covers the page. The quote within that block highlights how Donbass has been taken over.
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Spread from Chapter 15
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Chapter 16 – Reactions
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Spread from Chapter 16
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Spread from Chapter 16
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References
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End