The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Book Cover Redesign
Beginning Research
Research into Douglas Adams, the Author
This book developed into a “trilogy” of 5 books. The series has been adapted in many ways, including a movie. “Toward the end of his life he was a sought-after lecturer on topics including technology and the environment” (goodreads.com). He “was an English author, comic radio dramatist, and musician.”
Synopsis (from Goodreads)
“Seconds before the Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last fifteen years, has been posing as an out-of-work actor.
Together this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker’s Guide (“A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have”) and a galaxy-full of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox — the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian, Zaphod’s girlfriend (formally Tricia McMillan), whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time zone; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot; Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student who is obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he bought over the years.”
Genre: Science Fiction
Other categories include Humor, Fiction and Adventure.
Mood/Tone
- didactic
- silly and fun
- absurd
- all-knowing
Setting
- outer space, travelling the galaxy
Visual Language Notes/Ideas While Reading
- Earth
- the actual guide book — as described on pg 3 and 26 (“don’t panic”)
- bypass/galactic freeway
- huge yellow things in the sky- the vogon ships coming to destroy Earth — pg 32
- demolition beams — pg 35
- galaxy
- vogon — pg 45, or other characters like Ford and Arthur exploring together
- literal galactic hitchhiking — like thumb to the sky
- the galaxy
- the “interior of a flying saucer” pg 50
- hyperspace — pg 58
- View of the earth from space
- party favors and eggs drifting into the universe — pg 79
- drifting in space — pg 78
- hyperspace — pg 86
- the ship — pg 88
- Marvin the robot
- the bridge and door — pg 104
- viewing the planet — pg 118
- Mangrathea
- dolphins — pg 156
- travelling on Magrathea — pg 158
- infinity — pg 160
- mice
- alarm system
- “the meaning of life” …. but really the idea of a computer calculating something
Original Covers
This is the cover that I purchased.
It’s clearly very dated in style. So I hope to make a cover that’s refreshing and modern yet keeps the quirkiness.
I found so many other covers online. Here are how they look.
Not into the one on the right. But the one on the left is something I can appreciate. Also despite the one in the middle being very dated I actually love the expression and mood created by the colors! Feels very Norman McLaren to me. I love him. I am really into more abstract designs like this.
Again the one on the left is very dated but I am into the colors. Too space agey for sure. But maybe that kind of works for it since this is an old book. Still feels like wrong generation though but maybe I just need to research more. The other too are modern and great illustrative concepts.
Do not like ones on left and right. Middle one is weird with the icons. But this one is definitely unique and stood out to me for that reason. I think the style is successful. But I can’t get past the icons.
Left is pretty generic for the book. I’m interested in the colors of the middle. The one on the right has a cool outer space effect by being lit up! I like that a lot actually. I think that to me is the most successful of all the covers. Its cool and interesting.
These are pretty terrible. I don’t like them. One in the middle is most successful. The highway looks weird though. I want to use the phrase from the one on the right maybe: “Everything you need to know about out there, is in here.”
I respect the use of color and illustration! The one on the right is definitely more successful as a whole. But the one on the left is really fun. I like the lettering/type a lot.
After looking through all of these, there seems to be a mix of fun/quirky and outer space adventure. I should try to find a balance of the two for my cover.
Commentaries on the Book (sourced from goodreads.com)
- “Please, before anything… DON’T PANIC.
This review is harmless, well mostly harmless.
I think that one of the things that one has to keep in mind while reading this book is that it was written in 1979. Having this important factor in perspective, it’s quite astonishing the vision of Douglas Adams, the author, presenting a lot of visionary elements, starting with the very “book inside the book”, I mean The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, since it’s presented as an electronic book. which now it’s a very common way to read a lot of books now. Also, he mentioned stuff like “touch-sensitive screens” that yet again, it’s now something introduced in our daily lives. Science-Fiction, the good science fiction is defined by being visionary in the moment to be published and a fact, years later. Just like Verne’s work predicting events like space rockets and nuclear submarines.
The President of the Universe holds no real power. His sole purpose is to take attention away from where the power truly exists…
Obviously, beside the mesmering tecnology stuff that he predicted, the signature style here is his remarkable sense of humor, SMART sense of humor. In literature and pop culture in general, there were been unforgettable examples of computers like the cold HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey and the noble K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider, also robots like the loyal R2-D2 from Star Wars and the logical robots from I, Robot short story collection. However, nothing of that can prepare you to the experience of meeting “Eddie”, the Main Computer of the Heart of Gold spaceship or Marvin, the Paranoid Android. This is one of the best traits of Douglas Adams’ wit in the development of artificial intelligence. I wasn’t surprised since some months ago, I read Shada by Gareth Roberts but based on theDoctor Who’s unaired script written by Douglas Adams where you find another priceless example of a computer with a personality that only Adams is able to develop. You laugh and laugh with them BUT not only because they’s funny but also they are truly logical as artifical intelligences in their way to react to situations. Adams’ impact of how presenting artificial intelligence can be found too in another novel of Doctor Who, Festival of Deathby Jonathan Morris, where the author showed how well he learned Adams’ lessons.
Resistance is useless!
I believe that Douglas Adams’ involvement in the production of the iconic British sci-fi TV series Doctor Who as script editor and writer of three stories, it was fated since I found remarkable similarities on the premises of both works, this novel and the TV series. Both has a peculiar fellow who stole certain machine and along with companions is travelling around. So, it wouldn’t a surprise that he got some inspiration since Doctor Who was widely known since 1963 specially on its native country, England. Of course, his participation on another British TV institution like Monty Python’s Flying Circus was a relevant point for Adams to explode his humoristic potential.
To boldly split infinitives that no man had split before…
It’s possible that people unfamiliar with Adams’ work could think that since this is a novel with comedy, they could think that it can’t be a “serious” science-fiction book. However, the brilliance of this novel is its capacity of offering smart humor while using scientific concepts like the theory of faster-than-light objects. Even you won’t be able to fight against his priceless explanation behind the UFOs’ sightings.
Without spoiling anything, I think that my only reason of getting off a star in my rating of this great novel was its lacking a proper closure. I understand that this the first book in a trilogy of five books (yes, you read correctly, it wasn’t a mistake) so the adventures and mysteries will continue in the second book The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. However, it was quite unsettling when you are having the time of your life reading it and the book just stopped to have words. I describe it like that since I didn’t feel an ending. It was indeed just like the impossibility of not finding more words in the book. What I can give to Adams is that that was quite improbable but in my opinion, quite unlikely way to just “ending” this book.
Certainly I want to read the rest of this great TRILOGY of FIVE books. (Yes, yet again, you read well, and it isn’t a mistake) — goodreads.com - “This is not the best book ever written. It is unlikely to affect you on any deep emotional level and you probably won’t spend sleepless nights just thinking about it. But it’s a simple, humourous sci-fi adventure. It won’t do something for everybody but I’m a massive fan of Douglas Adams’ and his sense of humour. Come on, like it or not, Adams’ has some awesomely quotable sayings (not all of these are from this exact book):”-goodreads.com
- “I understand all the buzz regarding this novel. This is the first time in my whole life that I laughed out loud while reading a novel. I’ve never believed that a novel could be humorous enough to make me elicit more than a giggle or a smile. This novel changed my perception of humor novels in general. I finally have faith in that genre, and an even stronger desire to read more important Sci-Fi novels.” -goodreads.com
- “It’s a sort of electronic book. It tells you eveything you need to know about anything. That’s its job. […] Which is exactly the sort of thing you need to know if you are an impoverished hitchhiker trying to see the marvels of the Universe for less than thirty Altairan dollars a day.” — goodreads.com
- “Since I was maybe twelve or thirteen when I read this, I’m sure some of the dry humor flew right over head, but the slapstick, sight gags, and ridiculous plotting sure didn’t. There are so many absurdist details in this ricocheting narrative that presenting you with a thorough summary would be tough. Suffice it to say that it centers on an Earthling named Arthur Dent who narrowly escapes the destruction of the planet when it is destroyed to build a galactic superhighway. He ends up hitching a ride on a stolen spaceship with the (two-headed, three-armed) president of the galaxy.” — goodreads.com
- “It is with great delight and spots before my eyes that I can proclaim that I belong to the latter breed. You need a wee bit of whimsy, a lot of quirky and a love for all things whacky (all three which I possess in abundance) to appreciate the magnificence of this space odyssey.”
Inspiration
