Each year for Passover, friends, families, and strangers have historically gathered to eat, drink, retell the story of Exodus, and discuss what liberation means today. We do so by following the Seder and reading through the Haggadah.

2024 was an especially unprecedented time—and so this Haggadah text was designed to help us speak up, raise questions, think out loud, and process the year before and ahead of us.

It was designed by me, Deborah Khodanovich. Special thanks to Jacob Kates Rose and Zoe Bernard for co-hosting and writing with me.

The book measures 5.5″×8″ inches, and each copy is hand-stitched and editioned. It is featured in It’s Nice That and the pdf is free and available upon request by email.

Achla America (אחלה אמריקה, “Great America”) is a poetry zine by Roman Eisenberg (Roman.) with contributions by illustrator and animator Ori Sindel. It was published by Minus Books in September 2024.

The design drew inspiration from the themes of the poems and the editorial work. The poems were written during a trip to the United States and explore experiences from there, as well as addressing aspects of Israeli reality and lifestyle.

The editorial narrative moves from “there” to “here” and accordingly, the design sought to uncover the connection between America and Israel – with the conclusion being the notion of the wild (or untamed) West (or East).

To express this idea visually, the design called for the use of Fontef’s Xylograf for headlines, paired with FrankG (Hagilda’s version of Frank-Rühl) for body text – a classic poetry typeface that, in its character, evokes the spirit of the late 19th to early 20th century. Additionally, Narkiss Tam (Fontef) was integrated into the typographic scheme to further emphasize the unique aesthetic.

Another key design consideration was the intensity and volume of the poems. Roman’s poetry is marked by bluntness, directness, subversion of conventional layouts, and even deliberate misspellings; as a designer, I felt as though they delivered a punch in the face.

Thus, the decision was made to maintain high intensity throughout the entire zine. Both the text and the illustrations were designed to fill the entire layout—extending right to the narrow margins (5 mm)—in an effort to evoke a sense that the page is constantly filled with visual noise.

Moreover, the fluctuating font sizes, which deviate from traditional typographic conventions, ensure that the longest line of any poem stretches from one edge of the page to the other. This approach is mirrored in Ori’s illustrations, which are rich in intricate details that span the entire format and are set in full bleed.

עזרת גברים / 1000 שקיות, or Ezrat Gvarim/1000 Shkiot (“Men’s Sector/1000 Bags”). On the Spectacle of Bags in the Haredi Male Sector of Jerusalem as a Combination of Compulsion and Deliberate Differentiation is the title of Alma Hanegbi’s final project at the Department of Visual and Material Culture, Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design.

The book examines the phenomenon of bags as an alternative to briefcases among the Haredi male population in Jerusalem. What began as a casual wander and the photographing of examples evolved into in-depth research that encompasses quotations on Haredi fashion, the wandering and walking habits of the community, the history of briefcases and bags, internet screenshots, literary excerpts, diary entries, and a plethora of photographs by the editor.

The book was designed to render its complex material accessible – even as it incorporates footnotes, quotations, interviews, and images. It emphasizes the plasticity and the ‘cheap’ and ‘undignified’ character of the bags, contrasting them with the dignified and serious nature of Haredi dress and culture.

To create this effect, Maor Freedman’s design employs Narkiss Tam Narrow in red (skewed with a mechanical tilt!) for the headlines, evoking an atmosphere reminiscent of supermarket signage and the typography found on store bags. The informative text is also set in Narkiss Tam, underscoring the supposed ‘coolness’ and objectivity of such texts while establishing a distance between the conveyed knowledge and the lived experience on the Haredi street.

The project was supervised by Prof. Ory Bartal, Galit Gaon, and Dr. Tal Frenkel Alroy.

Diary excerpts, interviews, and literary quotations are rendered in Hadassah—a classic font with heritage and a dignified, warmer quality than Narkiss Tam, serving as a secular alternative to the fonts typically seen in Haredi-religious literature (such as Frank-Rühl, Dragolin, Vilna, and their kin).

The informative footnotes are set in Narkiss Block Mono, a font with a technical character and a structured, monospaced rhythm that evokes archival materials produced by a typewriter.

Apart from the colors found in the images, the color scheme is limited to black and red—an allusion to the printing style of ancient sacred books, which were often printed in black with red headlines (thanks to Banya Mar for the stunning reference to this world). The grid itself recalls that of Talmudic texts, featuring a central body of text with surrounding notes that “break” into it, contrary to conventional layouts. However, due to the complexity of the material, a more intricate grid was required. In contrast to the symmetric grids typical of sacred books, the layout on the double-page spread consistently employs a right-aligned block on both the right and left pages. This deliberate asymmetry offers a secular interpretation—a meeting between worlds: the spiritual and the everyday, the sacred and the past, intertwined with the expressions of contemporary life.

Cover of the pamphlet issued by Letraset on the occasion of the launch of Narkiss Tam (נרקיס תם) in 1979/80. This Hebrew typeface was designed by Zvi Narkiss (1921–2010) to match Adrian Frutiger’s Univers. See more images of this brochure on the website of Yaronimus.

The shaded logo of Elite Ha'Arak provided the inspiration for the Limon Araq typeface family by Danny Meirav (HaGilda, 2006).