Monumental Ireland: A New Focus

The National Monuments Service commissioned us to design Monumental Ireland: A New Focus; an important book highlighting the relationship between photography and heritage, beautifully capturing antiquity using the latest photographic technology. Ireland’s archaeological monuments are evidence of a long and fascinating history. There are over 145,000 known archaeological monuments across Ireland, representing more than 12,000 years of human settlement.

Our brief was to tell the story of the work undertaken by the National Monuments Service and the Office of Public Works, to conserve and maintain our cherished monuments despite the challenges they face, in a dual-language (Irish and English) publication.

Designed over 5,000 years ago to capture the rays of the rising sun on the winter solstice, the great passage tomb of Newgrange continues to mark the shortest day in the Irish calendar. This incredible feat of megalithic engineering has captured the world’s imagination like no other Irish monument. Few will ever have the opportunity to witness this spectacular event in person, but new photographic technology has recently allowed all of us to glimpse the magical moments of the sun’s movements within the great burial chamber, for the first time in history.

The design approach for this book was based on the shard of light seen on the winter solstice at Newgrange, preceded and followed by darkness. We created a flexible grid for the book, based on the great burial chamber at Newgrange. The typography and photography interact with the grid to reflect the movement of light around the chamber. We designed the book to be tactile, with a soft, textured hard-back cover that is almost warm to the touch. A blind deboss and spot varnish add further texture, and the cover glimmers in light. The book opens to reveal the beautiful, breath-taking, unique story of our monuments; it is bursting with life and encased in darkness.

We further illuminated the book by introducing a sunlight-orange colour; this is supported by an earthy palette drawn from the monuments themselves and the land they inhabit. An orange ribbon runs through the book, and hints at the contents when it is closed. We didn't want to interrupt the pace with captions for this particular book, so we designed a visual index feature, using thumbnail images of the spreads to quickly guide the reader to the monument information. We designed the book in a landscape format, to make the most of the panoramic photography.

We created a flexible narrative with the photographs; inspiring comparison and reflection through harmony and contrast. Monumental Ireland: A New Focus presents our historical monuments at a moment in time, in new and unexpected ways.