The cover hints subtly at the topic, including only the date in text to allow identification of the topic, yet remains restrained to allow the inside pages to build tension and tell the story.
Text from The 9/11 Commission Report was sourced, analysed and selected for inclusion, amongst a wide selection of striking imagery. Pivotal visual descriptions were identified, on which to base key visuals. From this, common themes were highlighted. Layouts were then sketched and iterated.
The booklet acknowledges the sombre nature of the topic. Neutral black prose interacts with genuine full-colour imagery. The depiction of people is minimised out of respect for individual victims, placing focus on the chaos at the forefront of the text. The text acts to visually depict the series of events. Words lose structure and break apart as the pages progress, responding to the impacts and collapse of the towers, and overall destruction and disruption. Breaking apart words and destroying readability was identified as highly appropriate, mimicking the vast chaos and disruption.
The opening page consisting of a short paragraph on an empty blue sky. Representative of the unknown presence of a threat.
The first spread leads on from the opening and introduces the first apparent event.
The impact; the typesetting feels the impact within the image.
Depicting the explosion of the second attack on the World Trade Center. At this stage in the booklet, the typesetting has advanced to extreme deconstruction to coincide with the worsening of the disaster.
A composite image which runs across 5 pages to suggest the progression of the collapse.