Project Four Process Documentation
Book Series Cover
- The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway
2. Moby-Dick , Herman Melville
3. Life of Pi, Yann Martel
These books are about adventures on the ocean, where the plot is driven by the relationship between the man and the animal, either as a companion or an opponent. The protagonist of The Old Man and the Sea and Life of Pi are alone on the ocean and they face a lonely journey with the marlin and the tiger. Moby-Dick’s protagonist takes the role of a narrator but he is on the whaling ship of which its captain’s sole goal is to take vengeance on the white whale. The three books largely talk about life and fate through the adventure. These are some of my favorite fictions so I think I will enjoy redesigning for these books.
Common Themes: fate, life, survival
Individual Themes: 1. Natural cycle of life (aging), pride
2. Deceptiveness of fate
3. Story vs. Truth, religion
Symbols: 1. Marlin, Sharks
2. Moby-Dick (White sperm whale), Pequod (the whaling ship), coffin, white
3. Richard Parker, ocean, orange (color)
Important Characters: 1. Santiago, Manolin
2. Ahab, Moby-Dick, Ishmael
3. Pi, Richard Parker (Royal Bengal Tiger)
Precedent Research
The classics tend to have a relatively realistic illustration of the main plot on the cover. The cover of Life of Pi, considering it is a more recently published book, has a cartoon-like illustration.
Most of the redesigned cover of the classics were significantly more minimal, moving far away from the trends of the earlier versions. Life of Pi’s redesigns were also minimal but since the original book cover is also quite simple, they did not seem too different.
From the precedent research, I though I would like to step away from making the cover too playful (typeface, very saturated colors) like those of Moby-Dick and Life of Pi, which I think takes away from the loneliness and seriousness the three books convey.
