Zhao Lihong — 疼痛 / Всеболь

A bilingual Chinese–Russian edition of poetry by Zhao Lihong. The design is built around restraint and contrast: two languages and two writing systems share the same space without being forced into rigid symmetry. The Chinese and Russian texts retain their own rhythm and proportions, while the layout remains deliberately quiet, with generous white space and very little decoration. The book is printed on warm, lightly laid paper, which gives the large areas of empty space a physical presence and softens the contrast of both Chinese and Cyrillic type. Rather than using familiar visual clichés associated with China, I wanted the Chinese text itself — its scale, direction and relationship with the Russian translation — to become the main graphic element of the book.