5. The Before Series
Project: The Before Trilogy
Type: Book Design
Year: 2021
This project is inspired by Richard Linklater’s film series known as The Before Series, made up of his three films, each created 9 years apart: Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, & Before Midnight.
“The cornerstone of director Richard Linklater’s career‑long exploration of cinematic time, this celebrated three-part romance captures a relationship as it begins, begins again, deepens, and strains over the course of almost two decades. Chronicling the love of Celine (Julie Delpy) and Jesse (Ethan Hawke), from their first meeting as idealistic twentysomethings to the disillusionment they face together in middle age, The Before Trilogy also serves as a document of a boundary-pushing and extraordinarily intimate collaboration between director and actors, as Delpy and Hawke imbue their characters with a sense of lived-in experience, and age on-screen along with them. Attuned to the sweeping grandeur of time’s passage as well as the evanescence of individual moments, the Before films chart the progress of romantic destiny as it navigates the vicissitudes of ordinary life.” - Criterion Collection
The design of the book considers Linklater’s reference to the passage of time in a unique way. The book consists of three significant scenes from each film in the series, highlighting both their conversation and actions between them. Inserted between each scene there are nine “empty” spreads representing the nine years that passed by between each film. The emptiness in between scenes is emblematic of the unknowingless that occurs in Jesse and Celine’s lives. The lack of images in the book honors Linklater’s attention to detail in his writing, allowing the reader to hone in on their words exchanged between the two main characters. The book’s cover is wrapped in a risograph printed book flap; the only color in the book. Referencing the evolution in the series from sunrise to midnight, also seen on the films Criterion Collection covers.
︎︎︎ 4.75 x 9in, Stab Bound.
︎︎︎ Typography: Halyard Text, News Plantin