For Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet, we were tasked with creating an exploratory typographic 22 page book. I approached this project through a personal lens, connecting some of the poet’s words to my creative journey as a student. The textures were made from scanned pieces of my own work including paintings, charcoal drawings, and black and white projects from my early years in design school. I also incorporated older scans of my late grandmother’s handwriting and documents, which added a deeper emotional layer to the process.

At first, this project was challenging. I did not feel a strong connection to the text and struggled to create imagery that felt meaningful. But once I started working with texture and began finding personal significance in the words, the book started to take shape. As you click through the pages, you will notice some spreads are much quieter than others, intentionally so. The pacing reflects the shifts in tone and emotion throughout the letters.