The publication of The Colorful Man by the poet and playwright Ivan Teofilov is an event in new Bulgarian children’s literature. This magnificent large-format hardcover edition contains poems for children and two stagings of fairy tales. The layout and illustrations by Rositsa Raleva are at the level of the text, which easily and skillfully provokes children’s imagination. The light vector graphics peer out from the pages, flying when necessary; they occupy the center of the page when attention should be directed to certain images, and they fit delicately into the text of the plays. Secondary details are omitted; the expressive images of children, horses and dogs, mice and swallows “speak” with measured hyperbolizations; the deliberate details add exactly what is needed for the poetic image. The delicate tonalities (with the exception of the flyleaf, which resounds magnificently in a vibrant color scheme) and the refined stylization are somewhat reminiscent of good examples from the 1980s. But in this book, the recognizable voice of Rositsa Raleva enters into a duet with the voice of the great poet, unerringly and in a contemporary way.
Rositsa Raleva
The Colorful Man
Illustrator: Rositsa Raleva
Janet 45
144 pages
205 х 288, твърда корица
ISBN 978-619-186-138-5
The Colorful Man
Rositsa Raleva
Rositsa Raleva is a graphic designer and illustrator with over 20 years of professional experience. Born in Sofia in 1979, she graduated from the National Academy of Art in Sofia, majoring in textiles. For the past 15 years, Rositsa has combined her corporate career with freelance practice, working as an illustrator and book designer, a poster artist, and a production designer for short animated films. Her work as a freelance designer includes projects for organizations, studios, and institutions such as Compote Collective, Poststudio, Studio Enthusiasm, Anima Docs, the Polish Institute, Muzeiko, the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, Plakat Kombinat, the Hungarian Cultural Institute, Ted-Ed, Human Rights Watch, Fine Acts, the New Culture Foundation, Colibri Publishers, DA Publishing House, Aquarius Publishing House, and others. As a co-founder of the T-shirt brand Dushman, Rositsa strives to transform artistic ideas into successful commercial products.