UNESCO Pocket Beletrina / May 2010

Design and illustration for a series of 10 book covers for Pocket Beletrina, the softback literary imprint of the major Slovene book publisher Beletrina Academic Press. The series was specially created for the World Literatures – Fabula Festival 2010, the central event of Ljubljana’s time as UNESCO World Book Capital 2010. The collection was published in conjunction with the project called A Book for Everybody.

As the overall design needed to appeal to “Everybody”, the brief required the series to be simple but visually attractive to reach a wide readership. Hence the decision was made that the main image should be hand-drawn and silhouetted against the backdrop of an intense and eye-catching colour. The image casts a non-realistic shadow to accommodate handwritten lettering, specially designed for this project. A logo for Pocket Beletrina, in the shape of a trouser pocket, was also devised.

excellent design … from the silhouette on the front cover …
– Jonathan Franzen, a dedication note to The Discomfort Zone, 2010

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