Strength has grown in the breach

“Strength has grown in the breach” is a collection of feelings, thoughts and experiences of Ukrainian women that should be heard by each and every one.

Publisher Tanya Kostina conducted dozens of interviews with women who faced the cruelty, injustice and destruction of a full-scale invasion. As a result, she documented 15 stories about the transformative power of women in war.

About everyone who did not choose this reality, but chose their attitude towards it. About women who found their own mission, freedom and strength. Were able to see the light in the most terrible events.

The book was first presented at the Book Arsenal 2024
Features of the book's design and architectonics
*This book is a fixation of stories of strength and resistance to terrible, unjust events. Therefore, the visual design acts as a backdrop for the stories, so as not to interfere with the reader's immersion in the heroines' stories. And only in some places does the design allow itself to interfere with the flow of the narrative in order to focus attention on its individual fragments. For example, in places the text is enlarged or placed on a dark background, and sometimes it is even turned 90 degrees - this is how fragments are highlighted, which with their events "turn over" our consciousness.

The illustrations are compositions made in the scanography technique, which at the level of sensations reflect the content of the text and the idea of ​​the book. The paper, thin and vulnerable, resists rough impact on it - breaks and deformations, shows resistance, strength and power. The contrast of light and shade reflects the reality of war, and the rough textures reflect the rudeness and inhumanity of the events.

The visual metaphor of breakage continues in the cover: the broken cardboard and the unusually, “unnaturally” bent flap that interferes with the title and “breaks” it. But looking deeper, we see the full name of the book, full of sadness and strength. The Power of Women in War.