Nostalgic, philosophical and fun, Pēteris Postažs’ artwork for Imants Ziedonis’ book All Kinds of Tales harks back to a golden era of Latvian illustration which saw greater collaboration between designers and writer, argues Zigmunds Lapsa.
I stumbled upon this book recently at my parents house while going through some older books. The experience had a very strong impact on me as I hadn't seen it since my childhood – it instantly brought some strong and vivid memories of that time. I distinctly remember this book being around, reading it and just gazing at the illustrations.
Though I haven't seen or even thought of this cover for many years, it struck me how well I remember it to its finest details, the colour, texture and shades – almost as if I had examined it very closely and then forgotten all about it.
The title of the book is Visādas Pasakas (All Kinds of Tales) by celebrated Latvian writer Imants Ziedonis. It contains twenty-four tales, including the Colour Tales series – nine beautiful and witty stories about nine different colours where each of them are given a character and brought to life. His writing is appealing to me as it has a quality that means it can be enjoyed both as a kid and as an adult. It has a bit of philosophical touch to it, while still being simple and fun.
Thinking about this book now, it is also reminiscent of the time and place published (1983, Riga, Latvia) when very often the cover design was created by artists, painters or illustrators in collaboration with the writer, and not only for children books, also for novels and such. That's something I see less today. Cover and interior illustrations for this book were made by a painter called Pēteris Postažs.
While there is definitely an element of nostalgia involved, a longer look reveals why this cover is still so attractive to me. The image is figurative and atmospheric, confident without having any visual puns or being attention grabbing. It stands well on its own, as well as in a context of the tales written by Imants Ziedonis.
zigmundslapsa.com
Zigmunds Lapsa
...is a Latvian designer who specialises in painterly illustrations for book covers, posters and other identity projects. He studied at Central Saint Martins before working for Bobby Gunthorpe, Riga-based interactive studio Hungry Lab and Amsterdam’s Studio Laucke. He recently illustrated the covers of a series of books by Dylan Thomas for Orion Publishing inspired by Thomas’ favourite polka dot bow-tie.
Imants Ziedonis
Before becoming a poet, this Latvian writer undertook a huge range of jobs, from road construction worker to librarian, teacher and editor. He wrote often about Latvian folk culture, and many of his works (like Coloured Tales) where created for children. Rising to fame during the Soviet occupation of Latvia, Ziedonis was one of the most open voices during this time, and defied the authorities by choosing to build his own house (an action against the idea of public property) and openly supporting the Latvian Cultural Fund.