are you?
who
For this case study, we were tasked with creating a new book cover for an existing book by using illustration and photography. The book I chose is called “No Longer Human” by Osamu Dazai. It is a semi-autobiographical story that explores themes of self-identity, isolation, and alienation. I wanted to utilize these themes in my design by creating a grid of traditional Japanese masks, one in the middle different from the rest, symbolizing the facade the main character puts up in front of people.
For my design, I wanted to focus on the themes of the book and pull from the Japanese culture of the author. Since the character in the book is often portrayed as someone who puts on a mask. I thought I could symbolize this by using a traditional kitsune Japanese mask to represent the normal people, while the hyottokko mask represents the facade of the main character.
Concept idea
Progress
Rough draft #1
I went with my original sketch and focused on combining photography with my illustration. The typography was placed in a standard way, and I received feedback on how to change it. The back cover was also missing elements from my sketch.
Rough draft #2
Rearranged the title and adjusted the author name. This allowed for more focus on the other elements. I also added the items from my sketch to the back. However, as I was working on it, I noticed the text on the back was hard to read so I adjusted more.
final draft
Finally, I added texture to the overall composition, refined more of the typography, and placements of the illustrations, making it more legible and appealing to readers.
