I - Introduction
Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five is one of my favorite novels. Naturally, it was my first pick for this class project, where we designed three book cover variations and one full dust jacket. When designing, I focused on accurately visualizing the delicately written balance between mature content and fantastical metaphors.
II - Explorations
We began by designing three distinct book covers. I chose to utilize green or red in all three covers, respectively representing the Tramalmadorians and violence of war. They differ greatly, however, in terms of business, texture, and symmetry, ultimately creating a completely different mood in each variation.
Dust Jacket
We then developed the most promising of the three explorations into a dust jacket. The leftmost design was most visually intriguing—the combination of the roses, gas mask, and hands with eyes (Tramalmadorians) gave it a strange, almost eerie appeal—so that was the exploration I chose to develop further.
I designed two versions: one with a review on the back and the blurb on the inside front cover, and one reversed (as per request from my professor). The back cover of the first version has a stronger visual impact because of the dramatic negative space and minimal text.
