Brief: Design a book that combines conventional elements, like a manuscript grid, with fresh perspectives on layout and type, incorporating extensive text and optional creative features such as images, poetry, or unconventional page treatments. The focus is on creating a visually appealing, readable interior while exploring innovative design choices.
For this project, I decided to create a book from my favorite short stories and poems. "Vanity" is a collection of short stories and poems centered around the theme of ego, exploring how self-importance and the pursuit of validation distance individuals from happiness and mindfulness.
The cover design of "Vanity" visually represents the book's theme of self-identify and ego through an open cage surrounded by ornamentation and bird motifs, symbolizing the mind's confinement and the potential for freedom. The use of red reinforces the concept of vanity, while the vintage-style illustrations throughout the book, including those on the title pages, enhance the overall aesthetic, create consistency and contribute to the theme of self-reflection and escape from self-absorption.
