Holding Serve
by Naomi Lee
Holding Serve is an autobiography by tennis great Michael Chang as he navigates the nuances and triumphs of making tennis history. I wanted to emulate the simplicity of tennis with the minimal color scheme and font. I used a black, white and grey to represent an important theme in the book of going back to the basics. Impact, a sans serif font, was one that I believe fit perfectly with this concept. The idea behind the scattered words in the background is a different, deconstructed take of a shadow, where the sun is hitting the title. In the book, Chang talked about more personal details, in which the media didn’t cover. He gave a look into the flip side of his life, and I wanted to portray that by literally flipping “Holding Serve.” Through my design, I wanted to convey the notion of clean fundamentals, pertinent to Chang’s life and the sport, in general.
These are the drafts (six front cover drafts and three back cover drafts) that I went through before reaching my final design. My idea was fairly clear since the beginning, in regards to the overall aesthetic. However, I wasn't very set in the direction. It was after suggestions from my classmates and professor that prompted me to simplify the design even more. From there, it was personal perusing that led me to the shadow concept, and minor tweaks that really brought together the structure.
