‘An Táin’ is the epic tale of Irish mythology. For this personal project, I decided to re-design it for a contemporary audience. The story is quite long, and centres on a journey through Northern Ireland to a final battle. Many of the places mentioned in the story are real and still exist, so I decided to complement the story with images from the Northern Irish conflict over the past 30 years, instantly giving relevance to a 1500 year old tale.
The images used were taken by well known photographer Paul Graham, whose work focussed less on overt images of the violence and more on more subtle images where knowing the full story adds meaning to an otherwise innocuous image. In this opening spread, the shot shows a dolmen (ancient Irish burial site) where two boys were shot by paramilitaries, setting the tone for a book full of violence and bloodshed.
The native text of the tale is Irish (Gaeilge) and I wanted this to be the primary language of the book. However, many Irish people cannot speak Irish very well and would find it off-putting.
So that people could still enjoy the book, and brush up on their Irish, I designed it so that every page is French folded around an inner page which contains an English translation. It appears between the lines of the Irish text, written in grey so that it’s not too distracting for the reader, but easily seen should one run into difficulty with a word.
1. The book title in both languages as it appears on the cover
2. The book cover and view inside
3. This is a text spread showing the general layout of all the text. The typographic grid was based on the old Irish manuscripts.
4. The image here is of Orangemen preparing to go on their march, which ties in with the warriors setting off on their journey in this second chapter.
5. This is the introductory spread, setting the tone for the warriors’ long march ahead. The ‘rocks’ in the foreground are actually an ancient Irish burial monument, an appropriate allusion to the death and carnage that lies ahead in the book.
6. This IRA daubed signpost points the way as the warriors march on through Northern Ireland.
7. Here’s a close-up of the text to show how it works. The practice of writing in margins or in between lines originates with the manuscripts done by the monks in ancient Ireland, who were the first ones to write down the story of ‘An Táin’. They usually wrote their corrections in red ink over the black text, so I had spent some time trying to find a way for the English text to work in this colour. Ultimately however, I felt that the red was too distracting from the Irish text however, so I made it grey instead. The typeface used for the Irish content is a contemporary and highly legible and approachable sans face called Trebuchet. The English is set in Baker Signet, a more classic typeface.
8. This spread opens up the second chapter which is essentially a roll-call of the heroes of Ulster and Connaught (the two Irish provinces at war throughout the tale). The image is of a desk in an unemployment centre in Belfast, inscribed with names of the many bored people who had sat there waiting for an interview and some hope.
9. The third chapter opens with an image from a Catholic housing estate, the graffiti being more than applicable to the ensuing story.
10. This spread opens a chapter where all the men of Ulster are poisoned at a party, leaving only Cú Chulainn (the hero) to save his province. The image is of a wedding photo in the window of a heavily protected photographers studio.