This project was developed in response to the ISTD 2026 brief, ‘Power’, and explores legibility as a constructed form of control. Drawing on Roland Barthes’ 1967 essay, ‘The Death of the Author’, the work examines and dismantles the traditional relationship between author and reader.
Barthes’ argument is divided into three stages, forming a structure that translates post-structuralist theory into a tangible reading experience. As the publication progresses, legibility gradually declines, mirroring the author’s loss of authority and the shifting balance of power between writer and reader.
Changes in paper weight and transparency act as tactile indicators, guiding the reader through each phase and signalling where power resides at different moments within the text. The binding functions as both a physical and conceptual division between the three sections of Barthes’ argument. It also prevents the publication from lying flat, transforming reading into a conscious, performative act that draws the reader into the work and makes their participation essential to its meaning.
BA (Hons) Graphic Design 
Megan Davies | Graphic Design
