Goodbye Bread (Cover)

Conquerors Book Series

This is an editorial design exercise I did called Conquerors. It’s a three book hardcover set with a pine box/container featuring three of history’s greatest military geniuses. The Alexander book is the only “real” one of the three; its fourteen spreads were cut and bound together by hand and then padded with about 150 blank pages.

Each book has a dust jacket with the title cut out, borrowing the texture and colour of the busy oil paintings that wrap around the hardcovers underneath. The visual idea I had in mind for this project was to use contrast of value and complexity/simplicity to create a sense of drama between its pages. Minimalism and a generous use of negative space were major components all throughout the final design decisions. The extravagant and saturated oil paintings served to contrast this particular feel of design. I hand cut a stencil and spray painted the title onto a sheet of transparent duralar for the title page. The ideas of multiple layers shown there and on the cover were implemented in efforts to produce a tactile and inviting experience when picking up and flipping through the book.

Sorry about the covers and some of the pages; they're a little wonky because I had to bike home with them in the pouring rain..

Chad Vangaalen - Weighed Sin (Cover)

Evil Grain

Evil Grain is a conceptual gourmet sugar company based in Canada. It has been tailored to appeal to foodies and javaheads who are looking for the best sugar for their coffee, tea, BBQ sauces, desserts, and cooking.

 

The ideas of gourmet and quality were the main communicational objective in these labels. Above are six different approaches aimed at the same goal. To imply the sense of richness and high-end, a generous amount of dark grays and blacks were used. This also allowed colour accents to be easily highlighted when used conservatively and strategically.

Die cuts of hands embracing the lids of the 300g containers were introduced to add some cheekiness and personality to an otherwise very stark aesthetic.

Initially, macro photographs of turbinado sugar grains were the main visual, but stylized outlines of the different kinds of sugars took their place, favouring a more minimalist and unique look. The sugar crystals take a vertical shape and are centered on each label. Die cuts on the bottom of some of these preliminary labels accentuate this vertical movement. In the end, the bottom left concept was pursued for further development into the finals.

DIN was chosen for its legibility and understated personality. Its thinner cuts (and condensed cuts as well) are very elegant and was the perfect choice for what Evil Grain wants to communicate.

Below are the final labels. Note that each illustration reflects the grain size, texture, and consistency of the sugar it represents. Busier inormation like nutritional charts, romance copy, barcodes, etc. were moved to a small booklet. These booklets are secured underneath the labels by twine (white, beige, and brown according to the darkness of the sugar) and act as a way to easily tear through the perforations of the label.