His Death: ISTD 2025

His Death is a response to the ISTD 2025 Milestones brief & explores death in two parts. The first part looks at the process that our bodies go through when we die from a detached perspective. I used it to document the scientific process that bodies go through when decomposing & the methodical steps taken during cremation. A monotone palette allows the information to be seen without interrupting colour & the emotions they can evoke. However, using a gradual darkening of the black tones & white typography enables the sombre subject matter to be communicated to the audience. I used justified type to allow the natural occurrence of rivers to complement the slow decomposing process visually. Alterations to the baseline, tracking & opacity further communicate our bodies’ fading through burial and cremation.

While death is the final milestone of a life, it starts the process of many milestones that those who are dealing with the death of a loved one experience. For the second part, I documented the milestones that I experienced from the day that my brother died & the days following. While the first part is monotone & follows a specific structure, the second part introduces colour, scale, typographic exploration and emotive language. Each page details a particular milestone, & while using the same typeface, baseline & grid, it shows death from the perspective of the bereaved.

The publication explores the stark contrast between the natural process of death, the methodical milestones that everybody eventually experiences, & the first-person experience that occurs alongside this for the living; messy, complicated, & full of emotion.