The Mouse's Tale
The Mouse's Tale poem is set in Times New Roman (serif) 12pt but gradually decreases to approximately 5pt by the end of the poem. It is a shaped poem by Lewis Carroll that appears in the novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. During the third chapter of the story a Mouse offers to tell Alice a story and and exclaims, "Mine is a long and a sad tale". Alice believes he means his tail and pictures its recitation in the form of a twisted tail shape. The poem is a “quadruple pun”: besides being a tale about a tail, the poem is also typeset in the shape of a tail and its rhyme structure is that of a tail rhyme. The verbal relationship in the poem was later made more explicit by some of the book’s illustrators. In a later edition, an illustrator juxtaposed the poem and a drawing of a mouse on the same page. Also, "Mine is a long and sad tale" is written along the Mouse’s tail to make the same point.
Thus, the the typographic inflection is given to illustrate the intended pun in the title and rhyme scheme. The whimsy within Carrolls the writing is carried through by structure. The strategic placement of these infections throughout Carrols otherwise traditionally formatted novels is a perfect example of the right kind of rule breaking.
I believe this the juxtaposition between the illustrator's clever inflection and traditional page structure of a single column novel is inspiring (especially for its time). Using the content of the story to inspire inflection but also keep legibility is something I would want to continue exploring within my layouts. There are times that inflections and the structure created around it--while creative, breaks the reader's gaze.I think by using a natural flow is what kept the reader from drifting off. These subtle, but powerfully illustrative techniques would affect my future projects.
Thus, the the typographic inflection is given to illustrate the intended pun in the title and rhyme scheme. The whimsy within Carrolls the writing is carried through by structure. The strategic placement of these infections throughout Carrols otherwise traditionally formatted novels is a perfect example of the right kind of rule breaking.
I believe this the juxtaposition between the illustrator's clever inflection and traditional page structure of a single column novel is inspiring (especially for its time). Using the content of the story to inspire inflection but also keep legibility is something I would want to continue exploring within my layouts. There are times that inflections and the structure created around it--while creative, breaks the reader's gaze.I think by using a natural flow is what kept the reader from drifting off. These subtle, but powerfully illustrative techniques would affect my future projects.