Dogukan Demirel

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Dogukan Demirel

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Dogukan Demirel

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Typo Bookzine

Type is the message.

[INDUSTRY]

Editorial Design & Typography

[ACADEMIC PROJECT]

Universita Degli Studi di Ferrara - Visual Communication Design Studio

[PLATFORM]

Print / Bookzine

[ROLE]

Research, Concept, Branding, Layout & Typography Design

[PROJECT TEAM]

Doğukan Demirel - Begüm Güleryüz

[BRIEF]

A visual journey into the history of iconic typefaces.

Typo Bookzine is an editorial design project that introduces readers to the stories and forms of three iconic font families: Bodoni, DIN, and Caecilia. Each chapter is dedicated to one typeface, combining historical context with expressive typographic compositions that bring its character to life.

Rather than simply presenting information, the bookzine transforms historical research into a visual experience. Bold layouts, experimental grids, and contrasting scales highlight the unique personality of each typeface — Bodoni’s elegance, DIN’s precision, and Caecilia’s humanist warmth.

The aim of the project was to capture the reader’s attention while deepening their understanding of typography as both cultural heritage and design tool. Through a balance of storytelling and form, Typo Bookzine bridges education with experimentation, making type history engaging, tactile, and visually compelling.

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[DESIGN STRATEGY]

When designing the bookzine, we made sure to understand our readers' expectations. It will be published every three months, and each issue will feature three iconic fonts. Since we will be featuring three fonts per edition, we adopted the approach of using three primary colors (red, blue, and yellow) to separate the font sections. Using horizontal page layouts allowed us to use larger font sizes and express the details of the fonts. Additionally, selecting a fun pangram at the beginning of each font section enabled us to showcase the entire alphabet. We chose to use the section color as the background to highlight the contrast, show the fonts' details, and emphasize the section separation. The last two pages of each section showcase all variations of the typeface. All decisions were finalized based on creative rules and classifications to ensure continuity in future issues of this bookzine.

[BODONI]

Bodoni is a modern serif typeface used for various purposes such as advertising, books, magazines, movie posters, and popular events. Before the emergence of numerous variants, the Bodoni typeface was first designed in 1798 by Giambattista Bodoni. Bodoni was influenced by the works of John Baskerville, Pierre Simon, and Firmin Didot. Due to their logical structures, Bodoni and Didot's other typefaces were initially defined as classical. However, these typefaces were not reworkings of Roman or Renaissance typefaces, but original creations. From the mid-20th century onwards, they were also referred to as Didone. Eventually, they came to be called “modern” serif typefaces.

[DIN]

DIN 1451 is a widely used sans-serif typeface for technical, administrative, and traffic purposes. It was described in the standard sheet DIN 1451-Schriften (“typefaces”), published in 1931 by the German standards body DIN (Deutsches Institut für Normung, pronounced like the English word “din”). Similar criteria existed for stencil lettering.

[CAECILIA]

The first work of Dutch designer Peter Matthias Noordzij is PMN Caecilia™. While studying in his third year in The Hague in 1983, he made the first sketches of this slab serif design.

It took more than seven years to transition the Serif PMN Caecilia typeface from initial concepts to functional typefaces. Noordzij created it during a period when typeface technology was rapidly evolving and no one knew what the next day would bring. Released in 1991, the typeface quickly became a subtle highlight in design. While not overused, it was preferred for noteworthy applications. Over 25 years later, Noordzij updated and modernized the original typeface family by adding a sans serif counterpart.

[POSTERS AND POSTCARDS]

When the Bookzine editions were released, we created two poster designs and three postcard designs. These could be given to readers as gifts alongside the editions. This offered Bookzine users alternatives that they could hang on their walls or give as gifts.