Kurt Vonnegut
Book Redesign
About
Category: Illustration
Client: Academic Project
Components: Two Books
Client: Academic Project
Components: Two Books
Kurt Vonnegut is an author that tackles serious issues in America, mental health being a recurring topic. He expresses these issues in his books through witty humor and a wacky syntax. Both book covers were designed to showcase this dichotomy present in his work.
The Design
Each book was designed to have similar front covers and layouts. The concept was to showcase how the different events or symbols within the story is affecting the mental state of the character . This is illustrated by making the heads of the characters different based on what impacts them the most.
In the same way that Vonnegut contrasts serious issues with witty humor, the overall style of the book covers are humorous despite the dark symbolism presented.
“Bad Chemicals”
The most essential part of designing the book covers are the symbolism involved. Mental Health seems to be the most important topic prevalent in his books. What really inspired me was his usage of the term “bad chemicals” which he would always describe as the driving force for many of the choices made by characters who were going mad. I then derived the rest of the design through this concept.
