The Stages of the Hajj

Daniel Mellis 

The Stages of the Hajj, 2007 

Letterpress, Japanese Stab Binding 

 
Designed and printed at Columbia College’s Center for Book and Paper Arts, this book uses colorful, spare geometric abstractions to describe the Hajj, a mandatory pilgrimage to Mecca that adult Muslims must take at least once in their lifetime. On each page, geometric shapes are succinctly captioned to describe the mandatory activity within the Hajj that they represent. The book was inspired by a collection of travelogues documenting the journey to Mecca; since this journey is one of the five pillars of Islam, it is therefore intrinsically important to Islamic religious identity.