Typography Exploration — On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous

Similar to how good songs make me feel, a writer’s ability to string words together so beautifully sends shivers down my spine. The current quarantine has been giving me the time to read more. I want to share the memorable quotes that I encounter through a typography series. Through this series, my goal is to explore new typefaces and combinations to translate the intuitive emotions of books into visual pieces.

The first set of quotes I want to share is from the autofiction book On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong. I could write an entire essay on why this book has left me in absolute awe. After finishing the book, I kept going back to different parts of the story to take it all in again.

Vuong writes a letter to his immigrant mother, sharing stories about the hardships they face, love in the midst of trauma, and moving on. You can’t help but get attached to every character in the book for being imperfect yet constantly striving for better.

I wanted to visually represent how Vuong’s letter was so quiet and elegant, and most importantly carried weight. I used a combination of the typefaces Grand Central and Aviano Didone to embody Vuong’s soft and observant tone.

An important theme in the book is the protagonist’s longing to be seen. I represented this desire by adding a faint version of the quote in the font Rubik, bold in nature but fighting to be visible.

Another important design note is the use of a water color texture as a treatment for the type. This represents Vuong’s poetic letter.

If you get the chance, I highly recommend you read On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous. I could easily say it’s the best book I read this year. If you have any other book recommendations, please send them my way. I’m excited to continue sharing quotes with you through typography exercises. Thank you for reading this post. Stay healthy and safe!