O Alforje by Bahiyyih Nakhjavani
Cover and interior pages for O Alforje (The Saddlebag) by Iranian writer Bahiyyih Nakhjavani, published by Dublinense in partnership with TAG Livros — a book club in Brazil that sends a monthly surprise book to more than 20,000 subscribers.
The book cover is designed by São Paulo-based graphic designer Tereza Bettinardi. The drawings were made in ink on paper by Adriano Rampazzo and then embroidered by fashion designer Izabela Starling.
The novel describes events set in the Najd plateau along the pilgrim route between Mecca and Medina during one day in 1844–1845, when a mysterious saddlebag passes from hand to hand, and influences the lives of each person who comes across it. The main idea was to make reference to Persian carpets.
The task to choose a typeface that could go along the richly detailed illustrations was not simple — I didn’t want to make any obvious reference to Arab lettering. The title of the book combines layers of Dala Floda and Dala Prisma, which is also used for chapters and drop caps (in Pantone 021) inside the book. The interior is set in Nyte by Portuguese type designer Dino dos Santos.
