First published in 1905, German poet Christian Morgenstern's piece is a darkly comic linguistic caprice. Illustrated with punctuation marks, the text is a romp, and yet the political undertones are unmistakable, suggesting systems of menacing control. Rathna Ramanathan's art and design invoke well-known icons, styles and genres of early 20th Century western and Russian art and craft to make a compelling argument about freedom of expression.
This handsome hand, silkscreen-printed edition recreates the brilliant conceptual art of the book, with ink, line and paper combining to add depth and texture to every page.
Honour:
Certificate of Excellence, International Society of Typographic Designers (ISTD), 2014
Design Observer Top 50 Books List, 2014
