Typographic Advert: Persepolis

For this Typography 1 Assignment, we were tasked with creating typographic, thematic advertisements for a graphc novel or comic book of our choosing. I wanted to create a series of ads promoting Marjane Satrapi's Perepolis, a series of autobiographical graphic novels detailing a young girl's coming of age during the Iranian Revolution. Marjane Satrapi's Perepolis nmarrates her childhood and adolsecence, and the way they were changed by her moving away from the 'home' she adored so much to escape political unrest and mounting violence.

The adverts I came up with leaned into themes of travel and refuge, but they also hint at the the generally accepted idea of Persepolis–an ancient city of Iran whose ruins still stand–having existed as a gateway to unity for all nations, and as a hub for Iranian prosperity and cultural celebration. I wanted to not only incorporate the title of the series out of necessity, but to make use of the powerful themes of Satrapi's memoirs and the title she chose for them, which together raise the old literary and existential question: you can't go home again... can you? Is there any such thing as returning to a place you're nostalgic for, that's long been remembered as idyllic, after you've had to leave and grow up with homesickness informing your identity as it develops ?