AIGA Design Archives

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Design Category
Book design, 1998
Design firm
Penguin U.S.A. (New York, New York)
Collection
(1999) 50 Books/50 Covers of 1998

Description

Selected Poems is number two in a three-book series compiling much of the work of this multifaceted author. Borges was obsessed with labyrinths of all kinds—physical or worlds within worlds of his own making. Having no illusions of being capable of coming up with a design that could encase the essence of his writings, I opted for a look that hinted at the cerebral quality of his work and at how important a figure he was to twentieth-century literature. It is also a grid design that with minor changes works whether it is a volume of his fiction, poetry, or essays.

Credits
Art director/designer: Paul Buckley
Photographer: Unknown
Typefaces: Merlot, Didot
Printer: Coral Graphics
Paper: 100# Ultrawhite
Author: Jorge Luis Borges
Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc.