ISTD Brief- Sacred Rose, Dante Alighieri's Canto XXXIII

This project brief, titled Paradiso, was undertaken as part of the 2020 ISTD competition. The brief tasked me to typographically interpret the Longfellow translation of Canto 33 of Dante Aligheri’s Paradiso to introduce The Divine Comedy to new audiences. We were also encouraged to think about how the Cantos follow on from those that came before it. I chose this brief as its open nature, as well as the difficult task of interpreting the inferable imagery described in Paradiso’s 33rd Canto posed an interesting challenge to my skills in typography and layout. My outcome consisted of an A1 poster which when fully assembled, following the instructions found on the back of the tear-away top section of the poster, depicts the Canto folded in the shape of an origami rose. My choice to depict the Canto in this way was informed by the content of Canto 32 which features a rose that contains some of the most revered figures in Christianity, just below God himself. As Dante (a self-insert of the author) could not have ascended to the Primum Mobile (The home of God himself) without the aid of those who reside in the rose, I felt the rose would be an appropriate format for my design to aid in the user’s understanding of the text. The design is aimed at adults who may have a vague knowledge of Aligheri’s work but not a full understanding. When assembled the reader would follow the gradient around the rose, unfolding the layers until they reach the rose’s centre. I implemented the gradient to give the reader an indication of where the text starts and finishes, while also acting as a metaphor for Dante’s enlightenment the closer he gets to God. I created the print blocks for the title of the poster by tracing Gothic Rotunda lettering found in documents from 13th Century, the era in which Alighieri lived in.