The Crystal Goblet / This is Water

An editorial project in response to The Crystal Goblet by Beatrice Ward. In The Crystal Goblet Beatrice Ward argues that the role of the designer and typography is to be invisible — a “crystal goblet” to communicate the words written by the author. While this may have been true for design at the time, I wanted my book to show how the role of the designer can elevate the meaning of a piece of text in ways that language could not accomplish alone. I focused on creating a mood for the book — an environment of self reflection and careful attention that was mirrored by the typography, layout and image choices.

I decided to pair The Crystal Goblet with the essay This is Water by David Foster Wallace, which comments on the danger of living life blindly. David Foster Wallace argues that true meaning in life comes from careful attention to what we take for granted every day. He argues that looking at life through a secondary lens will reveal hidden truths in the world — similarly to my effort to create new meaning through a secondary understanding of the text (through the design of the book).