Following the campaign communication we did for Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, we were again commissioned to design a book for Benjamin Britten's "The Rape of Lucretia" that would be used as a template for the following opera books.

Adopting the guidelines and principles we've set for the rest of the communication, this was the second big editorial project for the season, and another opportunity to create variations of the existing typographic structure. 

The object is very simple and light, and its glossy black softcover displays the opera's title on the front and the author's name at the back, following the pink and black poster color scheme. Inside, the readers can find two section groups, marked by different paper materialities. 

The first group, set on very straightforward layouts and printed over a very light yellow offset paper, contains a compendium of texts that contextualize the piece: it starts with a selection of key sentences in the opera and goes through some essays on Britten and this particular piece by musicologists and historiographers, an interview with the director, a preface, a list of the premieres of Britten's operas in Portugal, a chronology of the author's life and a synopsis of the argument.

Then comes the second part – the libretto itself – printed on a thin coated white paper. The biggest challenge here was having the opera's text running on a balanced manner in both English and Portuguese languages. Simplicity did the trick again, as the two column structure together with a lot of white space created the environment for an easy reading. Act & Scene titles and location notes were used to create rythmn, together with a small section of rehearsal photographs in between the two acts. Cast biographies and picture set the closing part of the book.