ABOUT

SEU AZUL

In his latest work, Gustavo Piqueira continues to defy the conventions
of traditional books

With his new book, "Seu Azul", Gustavo Piqueira surprises his readers and defies the paradigms of the traditional book applying design as a transformative element of the reading experience.

“Seu Azul” will be launched on November 5th, 7pm, at Bar Drosophyla.

The book presents the fictional dialogues of a couple that tries to break the routine of their relationship by debating news headlines. The headlines, however, are real, published by Brazil's main online news networks, ranging from " Batman tips to achieve success" to "Multi-millionaire seeks couple for a trip to Mars". At the end of each chapter, we find illustrations from the couple's son, Allyson, images that, at times disturbing, remind the reader of the uneasiness caused by the parent's arguments.

The book both disturbs and pulls in the reader at the same time, using a combination of languages that create a unique reading experience, drawing it closer to the concept of a book-object.

The graphic project of the book is built solely on dialogues, since there is no narrator that describes the gestures or the tone of voice of the characters, the author uses a series of graphic interventions, like the superimposition of the dialogues to indicate arguing, and the subtraction of the space in between the letters when a character is drunk - creating a parallel visual narrative that draws the reader closer to the scenes.

Another series of graphic interventions also accompanies the text, highlighting, at times, its comic undertone, but also bringing a discomfort to it, as happens with the series of fake advertisements of the publishing house, a well humoured satire. However, the main element that probably makes the book so unique is its cover: all 1 000 copies were manually covered with sand, glued with adhesive silicone. "It's possible that a little sand may fall into the reader's hand, but that shouldn't be a cause for concern, because the glue is very strong. The sand is a metaphor of the dirt and feeling of unease that arises from the narrative." says Gustavo.


ABOUT GUSTAVO PIQUEIRA:
At the head of Casa Rex – a design consultancy based in São Paulo and
London – Gustavo Piqueira is one of the most awarded designers in Brazil,
credited with over 200 international graphic design awards. He has also
illustrated children’s books and designed typefaces.
As an author, he has published twelve fiction books. His most recent
projects include the concept and compilation of ‘Ideias Vivas’ (WMF
Martins Fontes/2011), a collection of classic philosophy texts; the translation
of the ironic book ‘História Verdadeira’, written in the 2nd Century by Lucian of
Samosata (Ateliê Editorial/2012); the mashup of fictitious reports and
real images in ‘Iconografia Paulistana’ (WMF Martins Fontes/2012); and
'Brazilian Clichés' (Ateliê Editorial/2013), a visual narrative that tells Brazil's
history through antique typographic clichés. For more information on his design projects: ; for his books:


SEU AZUL
Author: Gustavo Piqueira
Editor: Lote42
Number of pages: 208pp.
Edition: 1st. (Limited print run, 1.000 numbered copies)
Format: 14x28cm - Cover printed in silkscreen, covered by sand
manually glued with adhesive silicone
Price: R$ 42,90

LAUNCH
Day: November 5th, Tuesday, at 19h00
Venue: Bar Drosophyla - Rua Pedro Taques, 80 – Consolação, São Paulo