A Two-Faced Book
Just in time for Passover 2011 is a two-faced book written by Rabbi David Silber and published by the Jewish Publication Society. What’s cool about A Passover Haggadah: Go Forth and Learn is that it opens from both sides—combining two books into one. We designed the book’s interior and created cover art that could work for either side regardless of where the reader enters.
Inspired by peoplehood, one of the central themes of Passover, we fashioned the Hebrew phrase tze u’lmad (go and learn) into hand-drawn letters that suggest community. Together this group of letters ascends out of the cover space—an illustrated Exodus, if you will. The front cover represents “day.” It opens to commentary and essays on the seder, the ritual performed by Jews that includes the retelling of the Israelites’ freedom from Egyptian slavery. The back cover represents “night” and opens to the Haggadah, the traditional text that is recited at the Passover seder.
This bilingual book would not have been possible without the masterful composition and typesetting of Shaul Akri from El Ot Ltd., in Tel Aviv, Israel. Despite the fact that our verbal communications were limited to two phone conversations, during which we exchanged mostly tov (good) and yofe (nice)—for lack of a shared native language—Shaul followed our art direction to a T and did a smashing job.
It’s not too late to go forth and purchase this book. Passover 2012 will be here before you know it.
A Passover Haggadah joins an expanding library of titles designed by Masters Group Design. Check them out under Publications.
