Page 1: Great Expectations

Page 1 is an unusual typographic experiment designed to explore the relationship between graphic design, typography and the reading of a page. It collects the responses of 70 international graphic designers to the same brief – to lay out the first page of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, a text that directly references lettering as protagonist Pip searches for clues about his family from the letterforms inscribed on their tombstone. Contributors were invited to explore, challenge or celebrate the conventions of book typography. Each layout is accompanied by a short rationale explaining the designer’s decision-making process. Conceived to illuminate the role of graphic design in the way we read and understand the printed page, the book is designed to engage designers and non-designers alike. This is a GraphicDesign& Literature title, now in its second edition.