journey to mexico book cover.
I chose an illustrative approach to portray Artaud's ongoing struggle with perception and reality, themes
that profoundly influenced his journeys to Mexico. His fascination with peyote, renowned for its psychoactive properties that induce hallucinations and alter consciousness, served as the inspiration to depict Artaud's head as the peyote cactus. I aimed for
a minimalistic color palette, opting for orange and
green to evoke the desert landscape. The use of black for his body creates a contrast that complements the black letters of the title. Additionally, I designed sketchy textboxes for the spine and back cover to mirror the elements used on the front cover.
I began by exploring how to visually connect Artaud’s struggles with perception and reality to his experiences in Mexico. It started with a series of sketches, experimenting with different ways to merge Artaud’s likeness with the peyote cactus. From there, I refined the illustration digitally, simplifying the forms to create a balance between surrealism and clarity.
I extended the visual language across the spine and back cover by incorporating hand-drawn textboxes. This step reinforced cohesion and gave the entire book an expressive, tactile quality that ties back to the rawness of Artaud’s themes.