2024
ENTWINED
Project Type
Interactive Publications
Discipline
Interactive Design
Print Design
Type Layout
Printing + Binding
Photography
Entwined is an interactive poetry publication built around the Red String of Fate. A physical red string and translucent layers connect five sections and control how content is revealed, allowing the reader to experience fated connection, platonic or romantic, through image, layout, and interaction as much as through text.
With origins in East Asia and roots in Chinese folklore, I used the Red String of Fate as a framework for physical interaction rather than a historically accurate retelling. The book relies on reveal, conceal, and sequencing to communicate shifts in connection visually, not only through text. I built it backwards by planning the string’s path and the interactive moments first, then writing and designing each section around how the reader would handle and uncover the poems.
section 01
The Origins
The Origins
As the first section, it has to introduce the Red String of Fate immediately. Two hands face each other, bound by the thread. This is the only place the string is physically woven into the French fold. Acetate and vellum hide and reveal the hand underneath.
Even with the physical string, the spread stays system-led. The graphic elements mirror its direction and tension so it feels integrated, not overdone.
section 02
standstill
Standstill
When a connection starts to feel fated, this section holds the hesitation. Blue photography carries the stillness, with minimal type and negative space to slow the read. A half sheet delays the poem so the reveal happens on the turn.
section 03
Destined
Destined
As the possibility of fate starts to feel real, this section leans into acceptance. “Letter to You” is presented as a physical letter insert, and the string shifts into a digital form through the hands and image. The poem is set in a less linear layout to move the reader between typography and photography.
section 04
serendipity
Serendipity
This section deals with the idea that you can walk past a destined connection without noticing. Die cuts, physical string, and a grid-based layout create a non-direct reading path that still makes sense from any starting point. One spread only reads correctly when the book is fully open, which controls how it can be viewed.
section 05
Coming Home
Reflections
This section is where the thread is resolved physically. The hands are connected by the string, and the composition stays non-linear to reinforce that the experience is not straightforward. A die cut and contrast shift guide into the final dark spread, where the string leads to the house and the last poem is tucked behind it to be pulled out and read.
Entwined is a single prototype built around one constraint: making the red string function through the entire sequence. I developed the layout digitally, adjusted the construction when certain moves could not be built, then printed on Japanese washi and finished the book by hand with French folds, layered vellum and acetate, drilled holes, and a Japanese stab bind in red waxed linen.