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Being John Malkovich Book Jacket

Project type

Book Design

Date

Summer 2018

Client

Self-initiated

A Rutgers-Camden assignment from 2014 was updated four years later, a book jacket for the film "Being John Malkovich" (1999) showcasing the film's themes of outside control for a better life.

Being John Malkovich Book Jacket

Being John Malkovich Book Jacket

The genesis for this project was in early 2014, as an assignment for my Graphic Design II class in the spring term. My class and I had to watch an independent movie in class and create a cover based upon the film’s themes; my class had to include 3D/interactive elements in our covers and not use obvious symbols. Previous classes have used films like Videodrome (1983) and My Own Private Idaho (1991) as their respective bases.

The major theme of Being John Malkovich (1999) is outside control for a better life or fame. This concept is represented by two large Xes, serving as massive puppet controllers; for me, the potential or obvious symbols was unavoidable, especially after other students were coming up with varying designs and I couldn’t think of anything else in an interesting way.

The genesis for this project was in early 2014, as an assignment for my Graphic Design II class in the spring term. My class and I had to watch an independent movie in class and create a cover based upon the film’s themes; my class had to include 3D/interactive elements in our covers and not use obvious symbols. Previous classes have used films like Videodrome (1983) and My Own Private Idaho (1991) as their respective bases.

The major theme of Being John Malkovich (1999) is outside control for a better life or fame. This concept is represented by two large Xes, serving as massive puppet controllers; for me, the potential or obvious symbols was unavoidable, especially after other students were coming up with varying designs and I couldn’t think of anything else in an interesting way.

A stock image of an open book on top of a few more books on a table, possibly in a library. From Envato.

A stock image of an open book on top of a few more books on a table, possibly in a library. From Envato.

As the years passed, I felt that the book jacket could have been improved upon and considered redoing it. I tried to think of different ideas, but I always returned to the giant golden puppet controllers. I decided to go with them, as I wasn’t bound by the rules of the school assignment now, but decided to add a twist to them. On the new jacket, they would appear to float above the reader with puppet strings similar to UFO tractor beams coming down, appearing to violate the reader’s personal space.

I made the concept more interesting by having the whole image take up the entire cover. This idea came from Chip Kidd's jacket for The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami, where Kidd was in a similar situation where he tried to make an obvious choice for a book jacket design more interesting.

As the years passed, I felt that the book jacket could have been improved upon and considered redoing it. I tried to think of different ideas, but I always returned to the giant golden puppet controllers. I decided to go with them, as I wasn’t bound by the rules of the school assignment now, but decided to add a twist to them. On the new jacket, they would appear to float above the reader with puppet strings similar to UFO tractor beams coming down, appearing to violate the reader’s personal space.

I made the concept more interesting by having the whole image take up the entire cover. This idea came from Chip Kidd's jacket for The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami, where Kidd was in a similar situation where he tried to make an obvious choice for a book jacket design more interesting.

Chip Kidd's jacket for "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" at the top, with the whole photograph of the wind-up bird taking up the whole spread. At the bottom are sketches for the giant X on the new cover, a few of which unintentionally resemble fidget spinners.

Chip Kidd's jacket for "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" at the top, with the whole photograph of the wind-up bird taking up the whole spread. At the bottom are sketches for the giant X on the new cover, a few of which unintentionally resemble fidget spinners.

I made the golden X on the cover in Photoshop

I made the golden X on the cover in Photoshop

The final mockup of the front of the jacket.

The final mockup of the front of the jacket.

A mockup of the back of the jacket featuring snippets from actual film critic reviews, including Roger Ebert.

A mockup of the back of the jacket featuring snippets from actual film critic reviews, including Roger Ebert.

The original school assignment done in 2014 on the left versus the improved version done in August 2018 on the right.

The original school assignment done in 2014 on the left versus the improved version done in August 2018 on the right.

A stock image of people chatting in a library. From Envato.

A stock image of people chatting in a library. From Envato.

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