Book Designs
"Don't judge a book by its cover" is a great metaphor to teach kids not to judge other humans by their aesthetic…. but quite frankly, I am a sucker for a stunning dust jacket. I've even found myself pulling books off the shelves of the local Dollar Store because of an attractive cover before thinking better.
As a genuine introvert, I appreciate the importance of books — getting lost in the lore of a fantasy world, solving impossible puzzles in true crime mysteries, feeling butterflies in a happy ending. I've also always found it interesting how design interacts with the stories. Not only in a fabulous cover, but within the pages... Where titles inform, chapters break, colophons acknowledge, and everything in between. To actually get to dive into the design of a novel truly is a dream that I'll keep chasing. Here are some designs:
Jurassic Park
By Michael Crichton
"You know, at times like this one feels, well, perhaps extinct animals should be left extinct." While always a sucker for dinosaurs, I do agree with Ian Malcolm in this case. I recognize that no one could ever outdo Chip Kidd's iconic cover for Jurassic Park that even translated into the beloved movies, but after stumbling upon his Ted Talk where he showed a bit of his process, inspiration took hold. One thing that Mr. Kidd shared was advice from his professor: "You either say the word 'apple,' or you show an apple... But you don't show both an apple and the word 'apple' because this is treating your audience like a moron." With that in mind, I wondered what Jurassic Park might look like without the iconically bold bones of a T-Rex but with a bit more of an understated dinosaur lurking in the depths, waiting to grip the reader, behind still slightly suggestive of park signage typography. Using photos from Unsplash edited in Photoshop, re-drawing leaves in Procreate, and typography in InDesign/Illustrator, I came up with this design.
Humble Brag: Chip Kidd commented “Bravo! Very nicely done. 👏👏“ on the IG post I made about this design… Fan Girl-ed pretty hard 😅
Photography: pandu ior | Nitty Ditty
Fonts: Airfare | Brandon Grotesque
The Shining & Doctor Sleep
By Stephen King
"This inhuman place makes human monsters." Stephen King is easily my favorite author. Every book I've read of his, from the Green Mile to Mr. Mercades, has been utterly thrilling, dark, and twisted. My favorite by far, though, is The Shining and its sequel, Doctor Sleep. The former is easily my favorite horror movie, but the book floored me. When I finally got around to purchasing the novel while at a layover in Colorado, I was sucked back into the Overlook Hotel, now in even more terrifying detail and an ending more satisfying than the film, in my opinion. However, the story of the adult Danny Torrence in Doctor Sleep was entirely new to me, and I wondered how it would fill his father's shoes.
When I looked at my favorite books together on my bookshelf, I wished the pair matched... or at least complemented each other, like a father and son. Using Illustrator to illustrate the 70's inspired lines, tricycle, and smoke, Procreate to draw the shadows of Jack Torrence and Rose the Hat, and typography in InDesign/Illustrator, I came up with this design.
Doctor Sleep
Fonts: Branch | Futura | Garamond Premier Pro
The Shining
Fonts: Milkman | Futura | Garamond Premier Pro
The IRL Library
I can confidently say that I do want to work with Book Design because I already have some experience in designing books, literary journals, and magazines. Here are some examples of bound books I've had the pleasure of designing or helped with designing the cover and other elements.
Artist James Wisdom
This monograph was designed based on the works of James Wisdom, an artist who focuses on the manipulative deception of painting. Using his former-tattoo-gun-box-turned-paint-box as a bounding box, I designing the contents to live in this box. The book contains an interview with Wisdom conducted by Lisa Vuong and myself, an essay chosen by Wisdom, and collections of work created and manipulated by Wisdom.
I am interested in representational painting. Using strategies that pursue visual pleasure, I challenge the viewer’s expectations. My current project focuses on re-aestheticizing found paintings and prints. Through this collaboration, I reactivate the pictorial space by questioning the intent of the original image — mapping my position amongst the plurality of cultural signs.
— James Wisdom, Artist Statement 2015
Ninth Letter 11.1
Ninth Letter is an established literary journal that runs on the idea that quality writing and work hand-in-hand with explorative graphic design. Volume 11.1 was artistically directed by Brian Wiley and Maurice Meilleur, who collaborated with thirteen students, including myself, to design the book. As a team, we decided that three PMS colors, including one neon, would be used for the entire print. Three workshops were also held by Adam Setala, Brendan Griffiths & Frank DeRose of Zut Alors!, and Jasio Stefanski & Lauren Thorson of Studio Set. Students collaborated with the designers and artists to create the three artist features.
My role in the book was to collaborate with Chelsea Choi to create the title and half-title pages. Brian and Maurice encouraged us to experiment. After some digital experiments to create a “melting” text, we decided to make 9L literally disappear. The paraffin wax cut into the characters “9” and “L” were melted on a heating plate and photographed throughout the process. The result landed on the cover, as well as the intended placement on the title pages.
Ninth Letter 12.1
Volume 12.1 was creatively directed by Maurice Meilleur, who collaborated with a handful of students, including myself, to design the book. The class was challenged to create ideas for the cover art. For my design, I overlaid various titles and names of contributors in Panopticon, a typeface created by Paul McNeil and Hamish Muir. It created the texture that is on the cover. This is the design that was chosen.
