I hope you choose not to be a lady.

An experimental publication design.

Objective

The design on this publication is meant to break the rules of typesetting. Overlapping text, negative leading, and obstructed type all give the feel of rebellion in order to reflect the mood of Mrs. Ephron’s speech. Black and white imagery gives contrast against red style elements, while sans serif and script type are used interchangeably.

In 1996, Nora Ephron gave a commencement speech to the all female graduating class at Wellesley College. In her speech, Mrs. Ephron speaks on her own experience at the college, and how she and her classmates were taught to be ladies; to marry their futures not work for them. She yearns for the class of 1996 to break away from this mindset and take control of their futures; As she beautifully puts it “Whatever you choose, however many roads your travel, I hope you choose not to be a lady. I hope you will find some way to break the rules and make a little trouble out there.”