Gustavo Piqueira, head of Casa Rex, has developed the graphic design and illustrations for the book "The Chameleon-lion" (O Leao-camaleao), recently released by the Brazilian publishing house, Editora Biruta.
In order to stimulate the reader to engage and interact with the story and to find out where the chameleon-lion is hidden, Gustavo has used the figure of this imaginary animal and camouflaged it throughout the book. This forms the primary graphic structure for the book.
"The chameleon-lion is hidden not only in areas of the book that are usually meant for illustrations, but also in the opening page, in the bar code and even on pages that don't form part of the narrative - contrary to regular practice," Gustavo explained.
In addition, the book's unconventional horizontal format allows for a more visible display in bookstores, eliminating the need for other promotional support material.
The end result is a children's book that surpasses the traditional frontiers of narration and amplifies the possibilities of visual perception from readers, both young and old.