Jorge González – winner of the 2024 V&A Illustration Award for Adult Fiction • V&A Blog

_{Slip case illustration by Jorge González The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, Folio Society (2024) © Folio Society}

Jorge González is the winner of the 2024 V&A Illustration Award for Adult Fiction for his illustrations to The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. The book is one of the most successful Spanish books ever written and this beautifully illustrated English translation was published by the Folio Society in 2024. Jorge recreated Ruiz Zafón’s post-civil-war Barcelona in a series of atmospheric double-page colour illustrations that capture the mystery and intrigue of the story.

The Folio Society is Britain’s foremost publisher of illustrated collectable books for adults. Their first publication was Tales by Leo Tolstoy, in 1947. It was wrapped in a simple red dust jacket but emblazoned across that first cover, in capital letters, was the word ‘ILLUSTRATED’ and Tolstoy’s text was accompanied by nine pen-and-ink drawings by Elizabeth MacFadyen.

This first edition can be found in the collection of the V&A’s National Art Library.

Since that first publication, illustration has been integral to Folio Society books, sneaking beyond the pages of text, onto exquisite decorative end papers and dazzling covers, even sometimes escaping the book entirely onto beautiful slip cases. Perhaps, therefore, it is unsurprising that Folio Society editions frequently feature in the V&A Illustration Awards and took both the runner up and winning positions for Adult Fiction in 2024.

^{Left, winner Adult Fiction 2024, The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón © Folio Society}

^{Right, runner up, Adult Fiction 2024, Monkey by Wu Ch’eng-en, Illustrated by Mu Pan © Folio Society}

To date, the Folio Society has published over 2000 classic works of fiction and non-fiction. They pay close attention to each stage of production, from the selection of the paper and type to the quality of the printing and binding. However, one of the most important tasks in producing an edition is the ‘matchmaking’: finding the right illustrator for the text. The Society commisions artists working in a wide range of mediums including wood-engraving, painting, watercolour, photomontage and digital illustration and each book is a collaboration between the illustrator and the publisher – to visualise classic texts in an exciting and original way.

After selecting The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón as a potential text, the Society approached Jorge González to illustrate the book. Born in Buenos Aires but living in Spain, González uses pastel, collage, charcoal and pencil to create images in a bold graphic style for a variety of media from graphic novels to children’s books and film. He won the Spanish FNAC-Salamandra International Graphic Novel Prize in 2007 for his graphic novel Fueye and our judges were particularly struck with the power that his graphic style gave to the illustrations for The Shadow of the Wind.

_{Illustration by Jorge González to The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, Folio Society (2024) © Folio Society}

Folio do not impose strict briefs on commissioned illustrators. Instead, artists are invited to select which scenes they would like to represent and work with an art director to bring their vision to life. For this book, Jorge produced hand drawn pastel and pencil drawings which he digitally layered to create the final double page illustrations.

_{Left, drawing for the library © Jorge González. Right, published double page illustration of the library © Folio Society}

In combination with the graphic quality of Jorge’s drawing, the different ways in which he layers the images, with selected layers being partially transparent, brings an added depth and emotional mood to the images. Eerie patterns appear in back drops, people seem to float in an ethereal city, and fire becomes all consuming.

The overall effect and the richness of depth in Jorge’s work struck our judges as being particularly appropriate for Zafón’s atmospheric tale of intrigue – a ‘match well made’. It seems that MariCarmen Bellver, the late author’s wife, felt the same way, saying “I love the illustrations, especially the one that shows the front of the bookstore. It looks very much like the glove store [Alonso] on Carrer Santa Anna in Barcelona which was Carlos’ inspiration … I don’t think Carlos mentioned that detail very often, so I am impressed by Jorge’s research.”