Persona 5 Wikibook
For our Typography Studio class final project, we were tasked with turning a Wikipedia page of at least 20,000 words, along with a related interview, into a book format. My chosen page was on the video game Persona 5, which is well-known for its stylish and graphic visuals. My goal was to translate the game’s visual and thematic concepts into a book format, as well as design while keeping its origins as a Japanese role-playing-game in mind.
Timeline: 7 weeks
Role: Editorial Designer
Tools: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign
GUIDING QUESTIONS
Persona 5’s visual style consists of many bold, high-contrast graphics and typography, with both symbols, in-game UI, and text in an off-kilter, almost inconsistent style; the main color palette consists of black, white, and bright red, with black used as a shadow in conjunction with various textures and patterns. Thematically, the game centers on freedom and breaking free from the limitations of modern society, with the character designs based on famous historical outlaws and rebels. In order to effectively capture and convey the game’s style and themes, I created guiding questions to follow and refer back to in each iteration:
How might Persona 5’s visual style and thematic concepts be incorporated into a book’s design?
How can Persona 5’s origins as a Japanese role-playing-game be considered in the design?
How can Wikipedia’s single page format be translated as a book?
FINAL BOOK DESIGN
In the final design, the overall system takes many inspirations from the original game. The cover is designed from a highlight in-game illustration of the protagonist, with the title of the game in English on the front cover and the title in Japanese on the back cover, a nod to how Japanese books are formatted from right to left. The main color palette follows that of the game, and for spreads like the table of contents and section dividers, the typography and page layout draws inspiration from the game’s UI elements.
