The Secret Miracle

ROLE: Art Director
ADVISOR: Donald Pollack
TOOLS: InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Procreate

In The Secret Miracle by Jorge Luis Borges, Jaromir Hladík, a Jewish writer in Nazi-occupied Prague, faces execution by firing squad. Desperate to finish his play, he prays to God for more time. Miraculously, time freezes for everyone but Hladík, giving him a year to mentally complete his work. Once finished, time resumes, and he is executed. The story serves as a commentary on the nature of time, creativity, and human resilience in the face of fate.

This book is conceptualized from the eyes of a mathematician, Each element reflects the intricate patterns that emerge from simple, calculated folds. Just as Hladík’s journey explores how a miraculous pause in time can lead to the completion of an unfinished masterpiece. The mathematical diagrams depict the precision and logical thinking of Hladik. They create a bridge between abstract mathematical concepts and the tangible elements of the book, echoing the story’s themes of time, creativity, and human resilience in the face of fate.

Final spread of the book announcing the death of Hladik

Left: spread 16-17;

Right: Designed artifacts of Hladik’s diary, and manipulation of an AI generated image of Hladik’s dream, and a map of India.

Left, spread 12-13;

Right: Designed artifacts include an arrest warrant brought by the Nazis to arrest Hladik, and
an image of my friend pretending to be Hladik

Left: spread 14-15;

Right: Designed artifacts include a book written by Hladik, an imagined cover of Sefer Yetzirah and an internal page of Hladik’s manuscript, which is collected as evidence to prove him guilty

An abstracted image of all the artifacts in the book and the inside cover