What Does the O Stand For?

Eve Kendall pulls out a cigarette; Roger Thornhill takes out his matchbook, monogrammed with his initials: ROT. The O is featured prominently in the middle, prompting Eve to nod and ask, “what does the O stand for?” Roger answers: “Nothing.”

The object serves multiple purposes in the scene: it situates the story within a time period where people not only carry matchbooks, but also smoke; it indicates the protagonist’s social class; it confirms Roger’s identity as who he says he is (in a story of mistaken identity); and it provides a metaphor for the larger themes of the story (a man who doesn’t exist, who stands for nothing).

I designed the monograms digitally before printing them and transferring them onto blank matchbooks as quick prototypes. While the initial moves were small, these typographic explorations, undertaken as a means of investigating the effect of graphic design on a scene and story, emerge throughout my work as I continue to generate graphic objects that tell stories and inspire worlds.