Ästhetik des Opfers

Ästhetik des Opfers is an academic volume investigating rituals and patterns around sacrifice in different cultures and times. I was commissioned to design the book cover after already having designed a poster and flyer for a conference on the same topic a few years ago. Those older materials (flyer seen here) used a pattern of blood splotches that worked well as an eye-catcher, but the editors preferred something a bit calmer, more distinguished, for the book. After looking back over my earlier research and sketches, we decided on this image of a Viking burial site.

I wanted the type to have a lot of class, radiate intelligence and historical awareness, and also a bit of tension. I experimented with combining centered and right-aligned text; suspended high over the picture, held by a thick asymmetric rule, is the main title in Nick Shinn’s glorious Scotch Modern. For the supporting text, I found that Sindre Bremnes’s Telefon compliments Scotch Modern very well: Despite following a different ductus and referring to two distinct time periods, these two beautifully drawn faces seem to breathe the same air of historical awareness, and compliment each other well.