The archive · Design & Visual · Product decision · 2023
Frankenstein Itself retells the classic in broken letters that act like its monster
Frankenstein retold typographically: the book is set in displaced, mixed, reoriented letters, so reading feels like parts stitched together.
Workbyworks Studio
What it had to solve
The project was a typographical reinterpretation of the famous story, not another edition with pictures. The medium itself had to carry the tale.
How it works
Frankenstein Itself is a typographical reinterpretation of the famous story: a book where the typeface, not the pictures, carries the tale. Its letters are displaced, mixed and reoriented, as if the alphabet itself had been assembled from spare parts.
The publication was structured from one deliberately odd typeface, and its design was influenced by Frankenstein from start to finish. The reading experience is meant to echo the creature's construction, with unfamiliar pieces rearranged into something whole.
The result entered D&AD's awards archive under typography and appears in the D&AD 2023 professional annual with Workbyworks Studio credited as lead. The Tokyo Type Directors Club's 2023 archive also documents it as an award entry for designer Han Gao.
Why it lands
- Displacing and mixing the letters turns the monster theme into the reading experience itself, not just the plot.
- An odd typeface is the strongest possible proof of concept: if the alphabet can be rebuilt, the book can be about rebuilding from the ground up.
- Resting the whole book on one typographic idea gives every page a consistent metaphor without a single illustration.
What it did
The book entered D&AD's awards archive under typography and appears in the D&AD 2023 professional annual with Workbyworks Studio credited as lead. It was also carried as an award entry in the Tokyo Type Directors Club's 2023 archive for Han Gao.
What you can take
Let the medium perform the subject: when a story is about assembling parts, a typeface whose letters are displaced and mixed makes readers feel the premise on every page, with no illustration needed.
Since then
D&AD's awards archive files Frankenstein Itself under typography, and the 2023 professional annual credits Workbyworks Studio as lead with Han Gao as the designer. The book stands there as a documented reference for typography that enacts its subject instead of merely illustrating it.
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