The Lyric Book Project

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The Lyric Book Project

The Lyric Book Project is a personal venture exploring typography and style through the interpretation of individual songs by favorite music artists. The intent is for each book to accompany its song, much like a lyric video would, stylistically mimicking the mood of the music. As one hears the song and interacts with the book, it becomes a full experience for multiple senses.

Interactive versions on my website at: https://www.mandivdesign.com/work#/lyricbooks/

I Have Made Mistakes was the first book of the project. At the time I had no intention of using anything other than typography and color to convey the feeling of the song. The subsequent books explored more complicated accompanying textures and imagery, but this one remains special in its own right for its cleanness.

Lyrics and music copyright (C) The Oh Hellos.

Vanilla Pines is the second lyric book in the series. While trying to figure out the meaning of the song, I discovered that the sap of Ponderosa Pine trees usually have a smell resembling vanilla. All of the textures and imagery in this book were made by pine needles, twigs and cones in one way or another. This included spray-painting branches for a ghostly silhouette and dipping needles in ink like a paintbrush.

Lyrics and music copyright (C) Tow'rs.

This book was inspired by the pseudo-palindromes used throughout the song. The ethereal textures in the background (which came from photographs of metallic pigments suspended swirling in water) are mirrored across the spine to further suggest the forward-and-backward repetition of the lyrics and the questions of life they ask but never quite answer.

Lyrics and music copyright (C) The Sea The Sea.

The textures in this book are a product of burning paper, scanning ashes, and scribbling with charcoal. The forms that some of the textures make are influenced by the lyrics that they accompany.

Lyrics and music copyright (C) Jonny Rodgers/Cindertalk.