Metamorphosis

How can we design a book cover without destroying the reader's imagination?

Feb 2019 - Mar 2019 (1 Month) /

Eunjung Kim (Independent Project)

Metamorphosis is a novella written by Franz Kafka which was first published in 1915. Since it was originally published in German (Die Verwandlung), there are several different translations. I found that some translations and book covers affect the reader’s imagination.

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe InDesign

Problem: What am I empathizing with?

Most book covers and illustrations look like they are focusing on describing how horrible transformed Gregor's appearance is. Words and design have an enormous effect on readers. These covers focus on the perspective of an onlooker instead of seeing from Gregor's point of view.

FINAL DESIGN

I focused on the space of the room that Gregor stayed in, and the book cover was designed in a way that readers could feel the atmosphere from Gregor's standpoint. Also, I tried to express the image of a transformed Gregor without taking off the imagination of the readers.

Running Head

Chapter