The challenge was to redesign a set of three book covers: front cover, spine, back cover, preface, interior title page, table of contents, and first page of text. 

I chose three novels by Haruki Murakami. One thing I have admired about Murakami's cover designs is their consistency throughout all different art styles. The first work of Murakami I read was "Sputnik Sweetheart," with a cover designed by John Gall. 

I love Gall's use of photography and collage throughout the covers, so I decided to emulate that while paying tribute to Suzanne Dean's use of consistency and Chip Kidd's use of individuality and separation while designing Murakami covers.

One of the driving factors for my collecting Murakami books is how good the Suzanne Dean editions look on my shelf, with the same typeface and dynamic color palettes. I knew I wanted to maintain a similar effect while still highlighting the singularity of each story. 

The first cover I created out of the series was "Norwegian Wood," my favorite work of his. I wanted to utilize a strong contrast between dominant colors (red and blue!) to display the inner turmoil of protagonist Toru Watanabe. I borrowed from the simplicity of the back covers created by Suzanne Dean and applied this layout across all of my cover designs.

I also wanted to keep a neutral background color, accompanied by a striking but muted background image, to pay homage to the melancholic nature of the novel. 

With my formula set, I created "Sputnik Sweetheart" next. The striking image of a tight shot of a woman's face was one of the driving forces that caused me to open the book as opposed to setting it back down on the library shelf.

To parody this, I used an image of a woman with very bright hair (a trait found in the character Miu) and red lipstick to create a similar effect. I used a combination of red and black to highlight the sensuality and mystery present in the novel.

My final cover was for "Kafka on the Shore." Cats are a huge part of the story, being featured on most of the covers. I knew I wanted to use a cat while also following the theme of being a close shot to the subject. 

For colors, I chose a nice sunshine yellow to convey youth, accompanied by a moody purple and deep blue. I used an overlay of text to convey the similarities between the main character, Kafka Tamura, and the elder, Nakata. 

Throughout the project, I wanted to create a format that opens the door to many other cover variations, much like John Gall and Suzanne Dean (sorry, Chip Kidd).