This book is an anthology of tales and one or another poem that describe the search for the Edge of the World, a completely subjective place that each person carries with themselves; the stories, which are assembled in the order they must be read, gather elements of abstraction and concreteness, of anguish and happiness, of discover of the Edge and of its consequent loss. The main aim is to describe the Human Life in an allegoric way, under the optic of someone who has already found and lost its Meaning.
This book is also a young fragment of Latin America’s voice and its powerful style of storytelling, which embraces the risks of translating abstractionisms into words through the fantastic-realism – it relentlessly distorts the reality until notions are set, just to release it back to normality again. Tales from The Edge of The World is not a work to be read only once. It is a piece of delight, as its beauty is expressed through the successful use of narrative tools such as manipulation of time, simultaneous plans and counterpoints. The poetic persona is one and many at the same time, and the text can be read as a journal or as an anthology of several voices.
As there is more than one possible story line, the book is designed as an unity made of individuals, and the tales are sections that can be shuffled. The special binding allows this interweaving to happen while a cohesion is preserved – they will remain connected in the original order they were gathered by the author, although it is possible to play and overlay them. These different sequences are suggested by the contents table and the position of the yellow lines in every booklet cover.
One of the story lines goes like this: 1 - 3 - 5 - 7 - 8 - 9. The binding allows creating this order.
Risograph by Damn Fine Print.
The choice for risograph as the printing mean was mainly due to its textures and the possibility of multiple prints. As a system that is precedent to the digital evolution, but which relief is constantly simulated in digital media, it enhances the possibility of visuals that are harder to date.
Tales from The Edge of The World as a print project was an opportunity for me to step aside from the usual commercial style and take a deeper look into graphic design as an artistic tool for expression. The decision for abstract shapes instead of literal illustrations allows plurality to their interpretation and rhythm.
Contrasting to the vectorial graphics and the non-traditional binding that denotes the contemporaneity of the overall design, vintage elements – such as big capitals, glyphs, and the simulation of a half-binding in the main covers – find room to communicate one of the author’s differentials: his affection for old-fashioned style of writing and living, despite his age. The beautiful Sabon is featured with its lustiness and elegance, in contrast to bold, condensed and objective Trade Gothic.
Reproduction of Adam & Eve by Albrecht Dürer. The gravure inspired the author to write the short story The Fall.
The lines as the representation of the characters's movement: In Babel, the poetic persona crosses the street, leaving a lamppost -- and all the density of the darkness that describes his own subjectivity -- behind.
