Ximo Abadia's GOLIATH

I love the edgy and unusual books I see from Little Gestalten Press, and this latest one is a perfect example. It's GOLIATH by Ximo Abadia. He stopped by to tell us more about it... e: What is your creative process/medium for Goliath, can you walk us through it?
Ximo: It was a complex project, I had many ideas that I wanted to join, but they were very divided. I spent some time working with Angela Francis, the former editor at Little Gestalten, to give shape to those ideas, to condense everything in the same idea, in a great and simple Goliath. It has been a search and distillation process. e: Is there a unique or funny story behind the creation of Goliath?
Ximo: You can imagine being Goliath when you put yourself in the role of the character and believe you are as big as Goliath or take part in the adventures of Gulliver and looking at people from above. And imagine me walking in my pyjamas at home with my two dogs and I’m 1,70 meters in height. e: What was your path to publication?
Ximo: I had a meeting with Little Gestalten at the Bologna fair last year, I had sketches and some finished page. They liked the project and after the fair, we started to work together. e: What do you think makes an illustration magical, what I call "Heart Art” - the sort that makes a reader want to come back to look again and again?
Ximo: I believe in illustration and design as a language. Like a scream that someone receives. I think it’s like a message in a bottle that you do not know who it will arrive to. I try to create something simple but powerful, where the reader has to look twice. For me it is therapeutic. e: What is your favorite or most challenging part of being a creator?
Ximo: My favorite part is the process, the search, the error until I find what you are looking for. I´m more interested in that search than in the final result. e: Is there something in particular about Goliath you hope readers will take away with them, perhaps something that isn’t immediately obvious?
Ximo: In such a strange historical moment, where we look at each other by races, we raise great walls, I would like to highlight the importance of difference, that does not separate us, it makes us stronger. That everyone is welcome. e: What are you working on next or what would be your dream project?
Ximo: I’m finishing a book with Big Picture Press about the language of the universe and a book about the filmmaker George Méliès for a Spanish publisher. I do not know if I have a project of my dreams that I want to illustrate, I really enjoy the work that I am doing now and continue experimenting. e: I can't wait to see it! Check out Ximo's very cool studio...