![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/7fa2fadb1d216efc4bd379816f198fe0/9610d218b487414b7179fa8d52558ca95736679debfcef65b78e3ea38c217b5a9d1d40c8921b980c_rw_1200.png?h=98a780af0c5c67d5ce6726ca54074844)
Book cover design for my MFA Graphic Design thesis, DARK DESIGN: tool-breaking & the uncanny.
The book cover uses text texturally, producing a kind of cacophony of neon lights and noise reminiscent of the neon, dystopian futurism of Los Angeles 2019 in Blade Runner (1982).
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/7fa2fadb1d216efc4bd379816f198fe0/4b33d4f29673ad708d2cd18cea343773c439d63b678bc9cea50b5d71e36b933782b09ba13ce3a563_rw_1200.png?h=4ed9f91970f8f4315d5711f58bf7ace2)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/7fa2fadb1d216efc4bd379816f198fe0/5e889df669adf71f16ca714549e54be9017afefeacca1fd126c0114894291cc7f2cb54715cc198b5_rw_1200.png?h=5e766caab4de4ee959896aa64269c40b)
Above: the back and front cover art.
I created this text in the spirit of tool-breaking, by using HTML to stack multiple accent characters on top of letters in a way that wasn't intended, but was oddly enough, design into the way HTML handles accented characters. This technique is called Zalgo.
Below: raw Zalgo text.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/7fa2fadb1d216efc4bd379816f198fe0/45dc26a970c73e06a4686d369d81ff71afa494ab35d35bb3727f831cb8ca226364f3edce291ff8e2_rw_1200.png?h=48492f567f303f0d754b11d5ee48d89c)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/7fa2fadb1d216efc4bd379816f198fe0/90903638c8cd855970a6c1ff0a55553dbf6fe0ce3e0b76007f49ea1e6d09dda5a6c3be752a3fffd1_rw_1200.png?h=5188a7d2b180c7ad8e1d310ea380c18b)
Elements of the cover are incorporated into the beginning and end of the book. At the beginning, the book cover design is "de-made" into the outlines of the vector paths on the cover.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/7fa2fadb1d216efc4bd379816f198fe0/33690cc96dfba6349dcc87cb99329c929dfb980cda15eef104dbfc2eedbb55911c843f0620678b52_rw_1200.png?h=def8912983018f63fe144ca7c2298800)
At the end of the book, the words, "D/DAARRKK DDEESSIIGGNN" come into "focus" as a way to introduce the back cover art. This was created by increasing the size of the anchor points in the vector image.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/7fa2fadb1d216efc4bd379816f198fe0/10df94ee25e4b0a62709833295bf8f25e6333b198222c4928917baf8929be4ca46f2a07ed6692d72_rw_1920.jpg?h=76282e49af4e983c52cd5cda241b1a52)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/7fa2fadb1d216efc4bd379816f198fe0/f1e152a46d2d954473aa9f3826f9b660503ffc87a9ce62ec29d2deeeb14390758316e5acad72a936_rw_1920.jpg?h=5bf3e5ebc727ed5353bf43506f2b22b8)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/7fa2fadb1d216efc4bd379816f198fe0/98a9c8492dc25792dcfb16be2a9772e7223e020e8e7a744ae5f3f1a150665cffc276e834ecc1d5a4_rw_1200.png?h=d9ddbf8902a92258b7424e6ef7fc653a)