Project Info

Cover Design— DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP?

CHALLENGE

"Don't judge a book by its cover." I do, as a designer, how can I not? This cult classic sci-fi story is one of my favorites and it has questionable prior designs that felt too on the nose. I started my career in design purely on the dream of designing book covers. I was very inspired by publishers that were rolling out beautiful covers and revitalizing old classics through new designs (New Directions Publishing, to name one). Helen Yentus' control over the Albert Camus Collections was pretty mind-blowing to me as a young teen. There was so much control that I haven't seen in book covers ever. What struck me was she said that she has a chaotic process and always doubts herself before starting; that felt relatable to me. I met Peter Mendelsund at a book signing once as he designed some of my most favorite covers (most known for his Kafka covers). Books are tangible art that feels very real and special to me.

SOLUTION

The book has been overshadowed by the film, Blade Runner. I wanted to bring Philip K. Dick's original to the forefront again with a modern design take. The design was to show the slow disintegration of humanity and nature and the somewhat "sentient" environment of the present (androids). Drawing the human form by hand and using paint on transparent paper was the human touch and the scan and typography treatment is the juxtoposition, tension.