For this project we were tasked with creating covers and posters for a book of our choice. I chose the novel Narcissus and Goldmund by Herman Hesse which is about two men living their lives in opposing ways, one living and learning through visceral experience, and the other living a life dedicated to God as a monk and rejecting earthly pleasures.
The two final covers were made using analog and digital methods. For instance, the black and white identity for the book was made from an original sketch I created. The sketch represents the duality that exists between the two main characters of the novel, and their unexpected synthesis. It is a minimalistic design that evokes harmony; the H’s created come out through the eye and the brain of the faces, referring back to the characters’ varying ways of living through experiencing life through the senses (eyes) and brain (higher consciousness and awareness).
The second cover was made digitally using photography and distortion lenses. I used a fisheye lens and moved it over my computer screen to distort the text and produce natural gradients. This cover is an abstract representation of duality; there are complimentary colors (blue and orange), and the two edges meld together to intersect.