2021

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Emergence Cover Design

 

Illustration

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About The Project

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Emergence is a techno-adventure-thriller novel written by North Carolina based author Robert Mathis. Set in a not-so-distant future, Artificial Intelligences have enmeshed themselves in every part of human life, including our minds. The book follows young protagonist Atlas Grepp as he unknowingly uncovers a conspiracy which threatens the future and free will of all humanity.

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Logo Design

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Mathis approached me about creating the cover for his book in early 2021. He wanted the design to capture various moments/themes from the book, and he wanted a look that would stand out on the shelf. Before I started work on the cover, I actually read Mathis’ whole draft of the book. This was able to directly inform my choices for the cover. For the first round of iterations, I presented Robert with three cover designs. Each drew upon elements from the book itself; the antagonist’s corporate tower rising above the city, the AI alter ego of the protagonist revealing itself, and a knife owned by the protagonist. 

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After the first round of cover iterations, we stuck with the theme of depicting the AI alter ego of the protagonist, but in a slightly different way. We agreed that the eyes and mouth motif was a bit creepy, so we anthropomorphized the AI program into a human silhouette filled in with binary code. The program is shown stepping out of the protagonist's eye; as a dilated pupil is the only outward sign when the AI is in control of the main character. Then we gave the silhouette a more dynamic stance of breaking free from the eye, which fits with an element of the story. The final cover design combines this binary silhouette stepping out of the pupil, with a reflection of the corporate antagonists in the reflection of the eyeball. The spine of the book incorporates a continuation of the circular eyeball from the front, as well as the protagonist's symbolic knife.