purpose: to create book cover designs for a set of three books – the selected poems of Anna Akhmatova, Nikolay Gumilyov, and Osip Mandelstam.
Akhmatova, Gumilyov and Mandelstam were poets and writers of the Silver Age of the Soviet Union, and all three of them have suffered from the Stalinist regime in one way or another. The objective of the project was to develop designs that capture the essence of a particular time period and, at the same time, effectively convey the courage and/or audacity of the poets.
The designs aim to reflect the spirit and characteristics of the poets while staying true to the historical context in which they lived and created. In the context of the project, geometry and abstract compositions carry symbolic meaning. They represent not only the prevailing artistic movement during that period and in that region, but they also encapsulate specific life events that the poets wrote about. The typographic elements, on the other hand, are subtly incorporated into the curves and shapes of the geometric forms. This arrangement serves as a metaphor for the voices of the poets, who strove to make themselves heard in the harsh reality of that time, while simultaneously needing to remain hidden from the authorities and adapt to the unfolding events.
Another important element of the design is the cement block that holds all three books together. This heavy binding material symbolizes the confines and limitations of the brutal and inescapable reality that the poets were compelled to endure. The choice of the material as well as the form of the block suggests that the poets were trapped or restricted by the oppressive conditions of their time, unable to break free from the hardships and challenges they faced. The cement block serves as a visual representation of their confinement and the weight of their circumstances.
