WHAT:
This is a redesign for the book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, also written Alice in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll. I designed a promotional poster for a meet and greet book signing event as well.
For this project, I went for a contemporary feel, targeting a young-adult audience through an unexpected modern twist on familiar imagery.
WHY:
I felt that Alice in Wonderland’s characters were so iconic, it would not feel authentic to the source material without referencing them in some way. At the same time, I did not want to create an unoriginal design. Because of this, I took a bright and modern approach, contrasting against the vintage illustrations typically associated with the book. I handwrote the title and paired it with a sans-serif typeface to continue my contemporary theme.
Keeping in mind my goal of a contemporary and unexpected design, I explored 30 different thumbnails, several different visual metaphors, three photo-based drafts, and three illustrated drafts before landing on my final cover design. The photos were sourced from vintage magazines and digitally altered through photoshop.
I also tried out different typefaces, handlettering, altering letter forms from magazines, and image tracing words arranged from letraset experiments.
For the final book cover design, I went with a limited color palette of bright blues and purples against a navy backdrop. These colors are an altered version of the light blue and red palette typically associated with the book. The dark background also references the shadowy forest and underground scenes throughout the story. I also decided on an unusual type layout to bring in the strangeness of the story along with a contemporary feel.
I integrated drawings of the living flowers from the Disney movie around the type. I thought it was a memorable and recognizable scene, not often portrayed in Alice in Wonderland related media. I wanted it to be unexpected compared to more recognizable characters, like Alice or the Mad Hatter.
Here’s a promotional poster for the book advertising a meet and greet with the long-dead author, Lewis Carroll. I used a script font and overlayed noise to match the dated feel of Carroll's portrait. I also integrated my handwriting among a clean sans-serif font to show a variety of personalities through text. The plot description cascades down in a similar way to the 'D' on the title showing Alice's fall down the rabbit hole.