Basilica of Bom Jesus
Publication Design
Mapping the essential stories & people behind a centuries-old, cultural cornerstone.
Print & web.
For 419 years the Basilica of Bom Jesus has endured as an iconic cultural heritage site within the distinct Goan region of India. To tell it's story I wrote and designed a 55 page, saddle-stitch booklet that documents the basilica’s history, and developed a web component that answers it's “FAQ” in the form of a timeline.
A Handheld Encyclopedia
Two scripts, one voice.
Across the booklet English and Hindi are given equal page space so that local Goans and Indian tourists alike can understand the Basilica’s story.
Facade chapter icon deterioration
Facade chapter icon deterioration in spread context
A deteriorating structure.
For decades the church has been slowly crumbling due to ill-advised structural alterations. I chose to represent this physical and cultural loss, through ASCII icons of the 3 chapters in the booklet - ¹Facade, ²Plaster, and ³St. Xavier. ASCII art relies on monospace typefaces to compose its image, so by gradually changing the typeface used across the ASCII, line by line the art collapses. This gradual degradation of the icons as each chapter progresses, mimics the basilica's reality.
Evocative translucency.
A translucent velum cover wraps the newsprint booklet and creates a strong contrast between the basilica's past and present.
On the outer velum cover is an image of the white, plaster-covered basilica of the 1850s and before. On the inner newsprint cover is a photo of the red-brick basilica in 2012, after it's protective plaster was removed. Translucency allows both the past and present to co-exist in the booklet, and forces readers to contend with the detrimental changes that the structure has undergone.
Community at the core.
The basilica is ultimately a hollow structure. It remains, and is steeped in history and significance, only because people choose to pour their time and energy into it. They are the heart of the basilica.
