Past and Present: philosophy for everyone publication

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The Brief:

'The Royal Institute of Philosophy are planning to produce a publication to be distributed at the Past and Present lecture series event. Submit a proposal for the event that captures the spirit of ‘The Past and Present best lectures’ It will be aimed at the people attending the event, but also to other key individuals and interested parties, and will therefore open up the market to a wider audience.'

The Final Outcome:

I wanted the theme and title of this publication ‘Past and Present’ to be referenced in a subtle way throughout the design. Focusing the concept of the past and present constantly moving in opposite directions I used simple lines throughout as well as an arrow made up of 17 dots (representing the 17 lectures).

As this publication is all about the type and not about imagery, I kept photographs to a minimum with the only subtle references to imagery being the arrows, dots and portraits of the philosophers. One of the small navigational devices I put in the publication were the dots in the contents and underneath titles and headings.

I divided the content into three themed sections to make the publication more accessible to everyone. I wanted to use vivid and contrasting colours to divide the sections, making each one unique and to help the reader navigate through the book.

At the bottom of each page the words ‘past and present’ along with a subtle line move further and further away from each other as you read through. At the very end, in connection with my final quote, the past and present vanish off the page.