Petit Piment / Black Moses by Alain Mabanckou

Alain Mabanckou’s novel Petit Piment was first published by Editions du Seuil in 2015. For the paperback edition by Points (January 2017), gray318 designed a cover combining striking illustration and caps from Thorowgood Sans Shaded, filled with alternating colors and patterns which are slightly offset, emulating misaligned registration. The particular font in use is Dieter Steffmann’s Sans Serif Shaded, a freebie digitization with blemished outlines (see e.g. top bowl of ‘B’) and without any accented characters. These imperfections can be a liability elswehere, but here they add to the desired non-industrial look. This cover design was adapted for the English edition by Serpent’s Tail (hardcover, March 2017). Translated by Helen Stevenson, Black Moses was longlisted for the 2017 Man Booker International Prize.

Following the success of Petit Piment, Éditions Points (re)issued several other books by Alain Mabanckou, now with related cover designs featuring the same ingredients. The secondary typeface used for the author’s name is Mário Feliciano’s Flama Ultracondensed.