With the mission to delivering outstanding works from writers whose first language is not English, Laberinto Press has gone on the journey to tell stories through the lens of the senses. Examining taste, sight, touch, smell and sound, the anthologies in this unique series collect the points of view of diverse and complex writers across Canada.

Having the privilege to work with talented editors and writers and Laberinto’s publisher Luciana Erregue-Sacchi, the work of Beyond the Gallery, Beyond the Park and Beyond Touch Sites emerged. Next year, the last piece of this anthology will round out the senses, Beyond the Concert Hall: An Anthology of Sound.

Services - Book Cover Design, Interior Book Layout, Print Production

Client - Laberinto Press

Knowing this anthology would be about breaking beyond the white cube, ideas around architectural forms and different visual planes came to be. Looking to strong Latin visual references from artists like Lygia Clark, Carmen Herrera, Gego, Soto and Cruz-Diez, I established a geometric and vibrant roster of inspiration for this cover.

Aiming to be fierce and vibrant, I utilized full bleed washes of colour paired with bold and uppercase titles for the interior pages of this anthology. It was in this project that we also established the idea of an emblem. In this case, a broken cube referencing the geometric shapes of the cover became the emblem that marked the end of each story and appears in the back cover of the book as well.

Community partners at the Art Gallery of Alberta invited children aged four to seven years old to submit a piece of art on the subject of "The Park." The winning entry, a sparkling collage of shapes in green and yellow suns and trees by Dominic Godbout landed on my desk as the starting point for the design of Beyond the Park. His work brings a childlike sense of wonder and freedom to the anthology. I was inspired by his use of colour and hand cut shapes that form a nature scene. I couldn't help but think about the sheets of paper he would have used to cut out forms that went on to become his piece. Bringing that idea to life; we start to see the negative space these shapes left behind. What new worlds can be layered, created, discovered? The design behind Beyond the Park supports the worlds talented authors have created, all thanks to Dominic and his creative explorations.

Carrying the spirit of collaboration, hope for the future, and inclusion throughout, shapes inspired by Dominic’s work were peppered throughout the anthology kept the authors words in good company.

The modalities of touch addressed by the authors in this collection range across a spectrum of forms of contact: reparative, violent, retributive, gustatory, familial, ritual and ceremonial. With this in mind, a literal representation of hands reaching for one another is paired with a figurative connecting string of relationships, stories, rituals. The negative space between them leaves us wanting answers, and engrosed in the mystery of what’s inside this anthology.

This connected line makes its way in different forms to the interior of the book, flowing through the stories told and adapting and changing based on the pillars of Tender, Trace and Touch.