Book Cover & Vai/Beria Inspired Font Design
I was asked to design and illustrate the cover an amazing anthology of short stories and poetry by young African emigrants who have found themselves journeying – for whatever reason – to Australia. Something I personally understand, finding yourself in a strange land with strange people, trying to figure out where you fit into the world. THE BRIEF AND THE SYMBOLS: The team of Dr Doris Asante, from the James Cook University, Australia along with editors Eugen Bacon and Dominique Hecq, asked me to create a symbolically infused cover that brought in two key Ghanaian symbols – and wow, SYMBOLS ARE MY THING! The first is the "fern", from the Adinkra symbol "Aya" embodying endurance, defiance against adversity, resourcefulness, and independence. I wanted to have it redrawn as a painted, brush symbol to give it some life and texture. The base shapes, I used a fluid infinity shape. The second is the Sankofa bird, symbolising the need to reflect on the past, to build a succe...