Book design for Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde

Final Piece - Cover


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Sketchbook works - research and making idea








Project detail
Using whole texts from the novel Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde and creating new reperetation for it.

Resolution
Book design with mirror papers

(2008 Spring)

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Concept

I picked up a mirror as a transformation object as Jekyll used medicine to be Hyde.
Also, through reading the book, I often find that Jekyll looked at mirror to check his figure.
Mirror (or picture) is only one object that we can see ourselves with objective view, and Jekyll might looked at inside of himself objectively by the medicine.
Actually we can not judge Hyde is bad and Jekyll is good, because both of them were radically figured by a person: Jykell. I found the phrase of Greek philosphy that is “If you would like to know the fact, see yourself in the mirror. And everything would be evident.”Words sould be always subjective, so my idea is if we look at Hyde and Jekyll’s words carefully through a mirror, we might find the fact or something beyond the words.


I made a book and it is composed of two parts, the Left side is mirror part and the right side is words part.
In word parts, I put words of characters next to the mirror to be visible when reader see the words in the mirror. Only Jekyll and Hyde’s words are reflected so we can read the whole text only when we look it in the mirror.
When people do slant the mirror parts, also they can play with line of words as they see own face objectively.


About book cover design, I drew an image by my first impression of the story.
There was something foggy and gloomy image in my mind.
The drawing is like smoke or fog, and it also could be image of the moment of transration (Jekyll became Hybe), Jekyll’s Feeling and Hyde’s mind. I tried to make the book like a picture book for adult because children do transformation-play, and Jekyll (as an adult) brought it into reality.
Transformation is permanent dream for every people and my aim of this work is to make feeling of nostalgia for childhood for adult.