Diary of a Madman Book Cover Book Cover Design



This study consisted of designing a book cover for a classic literary work, based on a historic graphic design style. My novel of choice was Diary of a Madman by Lu Xun, which I reinterpreted in the De Stijl fashion of the Bauhaus period.

It was a great opportunity to apply previous knowledge in 3D modeling and raster graphics manipulation to compose a piece that visually reflects the descent into madness and the prison of the mind described in the story.


Design
and Color Palette

The story is told in fragments, which I wanted to represent as individual compartments that conform a whole.

For that, I 3D Modeled a spatial isometric cube with panels that shift and interlock, creating openness but juxtaposing it against tighter spaces so that they read bigger in contrast.

This was my way of incorporating the grid system that is so present in De Stijl.



For the Color Palette, I decided to break away completely from the primary typically used in the works of Mondrian and Moholy-Nagy, and graded the colors to be more surreal and vibrant, but keeping the brightness and saturation to manifest a feeling of uncertainty and paranoia.