Rewriting Sheet Music - ISTD Winner 2016
Recognised for typographic achievement and membership to the International Society of Typographic Designers
I remodelled the sheet music for Philip Glass’ famous opera, “Einstein on the Beach” using expressive typographic forms. It is fully functional as a music score to be read by a full SATB choir.
I started by mapping patterns in the musical’s lyrics and keys. Initially, these were colour coded, but I later removed this when it increased complexity for the user.
Reoccurring rhythms are simplified for the user into a code which is represented by glyphs.
In Adobe Illustrator, I was able to refine paper sketches blended with fonts to create curling lyrics that reflect the smooth singing style required in the chorus.
Digital & Print
It is important the final product can be realised digitally as well as physically.
The digital product serves the practicalities of a touring choir.
In print the music becomes a piece of art to be enjoyed up close or from a distance.
The dramatically wide format reflects the ever-unfolding expanse of Space and serves as an engaging exploration of Glass’s Einstein on the Beach. Similarly how stars in the night sky document light which has passed for millennia, the glyphs in this work document musical rhythms which have been played, are playing and are still to be played.