Design Brief
Penguin Books is launching a new series called ‘Famous Couples.’ Each book tells the story of a famous couple, such as Adam and Eve, Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, Freddie Mercury and Jim Hutton, Kermit & Miss Piggy, etc. The goal of this project was to portray the couple as individuals and as a unit through symbolic imagery related to their character and nature of the relationship.
initial research and sketches
there was no better way to symbolize troy than basketball, just as Gabriella's signature trait is her brains. I needed to find a way to unify them through music. I tried the messy piano and a broken guitar. my peers encouraged me to pursue the latter, changing from the broken neck to a full guitar. the strings are still broken to signify the chaos that seems to follow troy and Gabriella's relationship. the icons for their individual traits are represented through the stickers on the guitar. my first attempt was more realistic while the second iteration is more stylized.
FINAL PRODUCT
The only big change I made to the final cover is the exclusion of the microphone. I was unsure if I liked the way it was taking up the space and whether or not it was distracting or too much. I already had the guitar to signify the music element and there were representative elements of the couple already present, so the mic was unnecessary overall. I added a white shadow behind the guitar to separate it from the cover and add some visual interest.
