This is a book cover design proposal, as part of an illustration and graphic design research project I did recently. The illustration and design were not used commercially, mainly for educational purposes. Final result is not the best it could be, particularly in terms of book cover design and layout, but I am very pleased with how this project developed and with lovely illustration I've come up with.
I decided to go with Andrea Wulf's biography on Alexander von Humboldt life and travels (truly recommend, great read!) which has been a great inspiration for most of my personal work lately. I was always in awe of great explorers and curious about the era so significant to birthing modern scientific methods, as well as for major discoveries of still untouched natural wonders that followed in its wake.
Learning about Humboldt's journeys across the Americas, I took young Humboldt's portrait as a starting point for final illustration, taking from the fact his biggest discoveries and peak of his career evolved around this particular time in his life.
The thumbnails of plants and volcanoes I sketched as part of initial research, but later incorporated them into final illustration. I wanted to keep the illustration monochromatic, and have chosen indigo to evoke the designs of antique colonial ceramics and similar historical artefacts.
My moodboard shows some of the very inspirational charts and landscapes drawn and painted by Humboldt himself for his personal journals, or as part of great researches and encyclopaedias he published after returning to Europe from his expeditions.
