533 is an ISTD membership-award project that began in the final lockdown of 2020/21. The brief challenge was to design a typographic work that celebrates the world of Silent Cinema. My outline focused on project two; Silence is Golden. I started my research trying to find an expansive viewpoint and then focus my research on a particular story or by linking events together, whether through my findings. I narrowed my focus to the loss of silent film and its destruction, looking at film preservation specifically. A story about lost films found in the permafrost in Dawson City, Yukon territory Canada, caught my attention as it was odd and peculiar to hear of film lasting decades buried in the ground under a site of a former pool. This location was made famous by the early 20th century Gold Rush. Watching the documentary Dawson City: Frozen Time, I felt it had a rich and exciting narrative about the silent film industry that existed back then, along with relevant interconnecting narratives that would be interesting for my contemporary audience to warm to.

Gif giving the viewer a sense of the book in physical form.

Showcasing the creation of nitrate film underlining nitrates original intended purpose as an explosive for war.

A collage of spreads across the book reflecting many of the book’s multifaceted narratives.