Confessions

Book Design
11/23–12/23 (4 weeks)

Advisor

Amy Auman

This book is a visual experience of the This American Life podcast episode, “Confessions”. The story focuses on the scrupulous confessions heard by a Catholic priest and the false confession of a young woman along with its fallout.

You can find more insight into my process here and a closer look of the book here

The cover of the book recalls a Catholic confessional, serving as an entrance and exit into “Confessions”.

Catholicism extends to the size of the piece, which uses the common dimensions of a Bible. The use of prongs is a reference to the legal system which is prevalent in the second section of the book.

Book standing with cover filled with cut-outs

Hands opening book to type-driven spread

Throughout the book, I wanted to focus on the episode’s obscuring and weaving of the truth through image treatment and typographic expression.

I featured with images slightly and strategically blocked out by hazy squares featuring the same image to communicate the muddied hearsay over the truth. I played with a funky display typeface over a bold sans serif to show the hostility of the circumstances. Color also played a deliberate role in the system with the first section colored purple to represent penance and the second half colored red to signify sacrifice.