Maurice Sendak Book Covers
Project Overview
Maurice Sendak's books contain themes of adventure, mystery and whimsy that evoke memories of childhood. Harper Collins wanted to create a collectible series to celebrate the beloved author and take advantage of the books’ enduring popularity. I wanted to incorporate the childhood themes associated with the author with sophistication that would allow adults to enjoy them as well.
To create engaging imagery for the covers, I created illustrations from cardstock and them cut it into various shapes that related to the narrative of each book. These cutouts were layered with foam spacers to give the image dimension. Each book used a somewhat monochromatic color palette to balance the boldness and complexity of the cutout illustrations. One large shape on each cover, created using a contrasting paper color, breaks the repetition and introduces an important element related to the book’s narrative. Futura was used for a clean look that highlighted the geometry of the cutout elements.
