The jacket design for Philip Short’s biography of Mao Zedong showcases the dictator’s iconic stature by blurring his familiar portrait almost to the point of abstraction and placing the type directly over the features. Despite this treatment, the image remains unmistakably Mao, and challenges the viewer to find out more about the historical figure and era that remain a mystery to many Westerners.

“Like an impressionist painting seen from a distance, the out-of-focus portrait of Mao is unmistakable—clever for a biography of someone who is now a dim figure in history. The title, treated as a Chinese ‘chop,’ is perfect.”