Vom rechten Pfad

Concept

The book is written as a journey to the land of evil based on the rules of a classic antique drama. In 13 chapters, the reader travels alongside the seven deadly sins until the unavoidable end, the apocalypse. During the journey we discover the different aspects of evil and the way it has an influence on us. A yellow barrier band – which we normally see when crime scenes happen – serves as a guidance and red thread. The twisted logic behind it: everything that is forbidden, everything where we are not allowed to go, we should definitely go and see.

Design

To write and design the book I used certain evil principles, such as the principle of duality. One aspect of evil and good is that they need each other. Without the existence of the opposite evil good cannot be defined and vice versa. Meaning that evil also always causes good. And that although some things seem pretty obvious in reality they are not. Deception is also one leitmotif which the book is playing by using it in different content layers and story streams. From a design systems point of view, evil symbolism played a big role and influenced the design of the book. I used numbers with bad reputation such as 13 and 666 as base metrics, which are reflected in the chapters, book format, grid and typography.
Retrospectively the book proofed that evil can indeed spark creativity. "Vom rechten Pfad" was awarded multiple design awards, such as a Judges Choice from the Type Directors Club, a Red Dot Design Best of the best Award, a Distinctive Merit by the Art Directors Club. On top of this I was awarded the Talent of the Year Award by the Art Directors Club of Germany.