Objective: design a book cover based on a pair of opposites ("near" and "far")
The first connection I made with "near" and "far" was based on physical distance. Upon further brainstorming, this connection evolved into an exploration of these two opposites not just on a physical level but on an emotional/psychological level, as well.
"Near and Far" is a book that explores themes of both physical and mental distance - how it is possible that someone can be in one location physically and an entirely different location mentally; how physical and emotional distance can be interpreted as a disconnect; how the distance between the two manifests itself psychologically, whether through the tension of expectations and reality, idealism and cynicism, or the disparities between the imagined self and real self.
What happens when thoughts and memories don't add up to stark realities? When a home is no longer a home? How do you orient and locate yourself in the past and present, between near and far?
Chosen Design
The final project consists of a front and back cover design in addition to a book jacket printed on matte translucent vellum.
The blurred text reflects the subjectiveness of memory and emotion, and the vellum book jacket adds an interactive, tactile component - the act of removing the book jacket to more clearly view the front cover represents a sort of unveiling of the truth - the realization that things are not as you once thought, imagined, or remembered them to be.
