For the Voice Pl.09
1923
El Lissitzky’s bold page design for Vladimir Mayakovsky’s 1923 poetry book *For the Voice* treats literature like a revolutionary machine. Bold red circles labeled London, Paris, and Berlin act like targets, connected by thin lines to stark red bars and menacing skulls and crossbones. This is a classic example of Constructivism, where the book is designed as a functional object—the red bars serve as 'thumb tabs' to help readers flip quickly to specific poems, much like a telephone directory. The skulls and the connection to Western capitals likely symbolize the death of the capitalist old world, capturing the aggressive, geometric energy of the early Soviet avant-garde.
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