Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius

Project Details

Course Structure

We were assigned to read and design the short story Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius, by Jorge Luis Borges. For the first 8 weeks of the semester, we worked on creating ephemera based on a list we were provided; the remaining 7 weeks were spent designing the page spreads, creating more ephemera based on our art direction, and binding our finished books.

Story Outline and Analysis

Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius follows Borges as he discovers the fictional world of Uqbar, and then the fictional world of Tlon, which stems from the literature of Uqbar. Most of the story focuses on the culture of Tlon; the people within it adhere to subjective idealism, and believe that nothing can exist unless it is being directly observed. Borges discovers that the worlds of Uqbar and Tlon were created by the secret society Orbis Tertius; by the end of the story, the rest of the world uncovers the existence of Tlon, and begins to adhere to its philosophy.

Art Direction

I used two motifs in my design. The Labyrinth, mentioned in the story, acts as a symbol of Borges's struggle to navigate the puzzle set out by Orbis Tertius. On the interior cover of the book there is an image of a Labyrinth broken into pieces; each of these pieces informs the layout of the corresponding page as the reader uncovers the story alongside the narrator. The second motif I used was the idea of a game, to reflect the game-like quality of discovery.

Ephemera

Page Spreads