I AM, Young Zubaan

Written and designed by Nia Thandapani

I AM is a typographic children’s book exploring selfhood. 

The book’s narrator, an invisible child, introduces the reader to a cast of characters who take it upon themselves to establish an appropriate name for the child. From clever advertising agencies, with funny names, to professors and politicians, each book spread reflects a different voice as they jostle for attention. At times funny and poignant the book was intended to spark conversations and thought around selfhood, voice, visibility and listening. 

The book draws upon typographic design cues from the various speakers to provide a sense of personality and space, whilst never actually depicting the invisibility of the child. The concept and design approach was developed as one, during a residential retreat in Shantiniketan organised by the Goethe Institute and Zubaan Books which explored challenging subjects within children’s books.