Interpreting Voice I chose a poem. Assignment Part 1

The assignment was to pick a quote and read it. Really read it to understand what it was trying to say. And then represent it in three parts over two different mediums — paper and screen.

He wishes for the cloths of heaven

Had I the heavens embroidered cloths,Enwrought with golden and silver light,The blue and the dim and the dark cloths,Of night, and light and the half light,

I would spread the cloths under your feet,But I being poor, have only my dreams,I have spread my dreams under your feet,Tread softly, because you tread on my dreams.

W. B. Yeats

Enhance the meaning of the words in the quote.

ConstraintsUse a 7˝ squareText in 10pt Frutiger, one point onlyHorizontal type, only black

data visualization

unconditional love

sketching

process

sketching

selecting one piece ref inement

ref inement

f inal design

heirarchy

information and interaction

dreamlike

position

navigation

f lowing threads

chunking

designing systems

weaving cloth

letterspacing

macro/micro views

sadnesstexture

wordspacing

convention and invention

self lessnessloom

linespacing

static and kinetic

contrast

form and aestheticsemotion and engagementvoice — personal and institutionalcontent + form + communication

ever since high school this poem has meant a lot to me. its laden with sadness and the discontentment of unfinished love

the poem is filled with emotion and rich visual language.

it also makes me think of a beautiful piece of cloth being woven with blue and dim and dark threads. he is talking about a cloth which in reality is a metaphor for his dreams and desires for her.

through the exercise I am trying to capture parts of these interpretations while remaining within the constraints of the assignment.

The blue

Of night

I would spread the cloths under your feet...But I, being poor

I have spread my dreams under your feet:

Tread softly

because you tread on my dreams

and the dim and the dark cloths

and lightand the half-light

Had I the heaven’s

Enwrought with

have only my dreams:

embroidered cloths

He Wishes For The Cloths Of HeavenW. B. Yeats

golden and silver light

Had I the heaven’s embroidered cloths

Had I the heaven’s embroidered cloths

Enwrought with golden and silver light

Enwrought with golden and silver light

The blue

The blue

Of night

Of night

I would spread the cloths under your feet

I would spread the cloths under your feet

But I, being poor, have only my dreams

But I, being poor, have only my dreams

I have spread my dreams under your feet

I have spread my dreams under your feet

Tread softly

Tread softly

because you tread on my dreams

because you tread on my dreams

and the dim

and the dim

and the dark cloths

and the dark cloths

and light

and light

and the half-light

and the half-light

He Wishes For The Cloths Of Heaven

He Wishes For The Cloths Of Heaven

W. B. Yeats

W. B. Yeats

since we had just finished class sessions where we were representing words using only one shape—a square, I had it fresh in my mind and began with some simple gestures on paper.

I then tried to visualize by using the actual words of the poem, first written in by hand and eventually in InDesign.

my approach was to read the poem again and again trying to grasp how it is being read—where the pauses are, where the expressions lie. this was then tranferred into linespaces, positioning choices, and linebreaks.

the refinement included incorporating feedback from Dan and my classmates during a classroom crit.

A process bookby Kinnari Thakker

Graduate Studio IFall 2010Instructor: Dan BoyarskiSchool of DesignCarnegie Mellon