For this self-guided project, I wanted to update the cover for A Midsummer Night’s Dream to appeal to a modern audience.
This classic has seen so many printings, but the covers tend to show either traditional oil paintings depicting Tatiana and Bottom, or a range of more modern illustration styles depicting...Tatiana and Bottom. Most covers either feel ‘classic’, heavy, and dull; or very bright, airy, and full of cute pixies. I wanted to go a different direction and show that while this is a Shakespearean comedy, it’s quite dark and creepy. I deliberately avoided showing Tatiana and Bottom and instead focused on a dark and mischievous Puck and the magic love elixir that causes so much havoc in the story. I took my design inspiration from modern urban fantasy book design and created a moody, magical, and slightly sinister cover that I feel is more fitting to a play about two young urbanite couples who run afoul of fairy schemes and get waylaid by their magical infighting.
The vintage typewriter typeface is gritty and disjointed, and the spine features a full moon image I created from creamed coffee (yes, coffee).
My undying appreciation goes to my dear friend Rebecca, who cheerfully spent hours tromping through the woods in leggings and a tunic, posing barefoot with the trees and holding a magical bottle of glitter and LED lights. Oh, the baffled looks we received from the hikers! Thanks, Rebecca!