Chicago
Author: Alaa Al Aswany
Designer: Jarrod Taylor
Illustrator: Jarrod Taylor
Publisher: HarperCollins
Typefaces: CG Phenix America (Manipulated), DIN, Gothan, ITC Veljovic
Specials: The jacket was printed on the reverse uncoated side of the standard jacket stock to give it a warmer feel.
Audience: That literary fiction sub-genre of books about the lives and problems of Arab-Americans.

I have always loved how eye-catching and clever this design solution is. It's great how the imagery functions as the subtitle, explaining the underlying tones of the book's content. Below are some questions we posed to Jarrod and his responses. Thanks Jarrod!
—Jason Gabbert

What is the book about?
The book is about the lives of multiple characters, most of them Egyptian, living and studying in Chicago. Their lives eventually intersect and we see what results when they do.

Were there any constraints?
There were no constraints really. At the beginning of the project I was told to pursue something similar to the author's last books.

Were there any steps taken before you started designing?
The manuscript was available, so I read through it, which definitely helped, especially in the later concepts.

What was your process?
There wasn't really any organized process. I was originally trying to come up with something that was reminiscent of Aswany's earlier books, but none of those ideas really worked for anyone, for one reason or another. So it wasn't until pretty late in the whole process that I kind of started over clean and tried to do something that didn't look anything like the older covers.

Were there any known influences that led to your solution?
The main influence was hieroglyphics. The characters' ethnicity and the multiple stories going on made hieroglyphics an appropriate fit to represent some of the more major characters and elements in the book.

Did the project have any unique struggles in its process?
I guess the main struggle was coming up with a sort of style to translate the ancient hieroglyphics into something that brought that language to mind but looked more contemporary and simpler.

Were there any solutions outside the final you'd like to be shown?
I've included a variation that works as well as the final, and probably makes the connection with hieroglyphics a little quicker. This was just one of many combinations that were tried before the printed version was approved.



Do you have any sketches that led to the final?
There's a couple of sketches here to show a part of the process, mostly it's trying to figure out what elements best represented the characters.


What would you say makes this an effective design?
What I hope this design does effectively is to be eye-catching enough to communicate really quickly the contents of the book, the many characters and their stories, and that it does so in an un-obnoxious and unique way.

Is there anything unique you learned from the process of this project?
What I learned from my individual process is that it does work to start over fresh when you hit a wall. It's easier said than done when you've been involved in a project for a couple of months or more, but it usually pays off.

2.2.09 // Ian Shimkoviak said:

Very engaging cover. Almost feels child-like with the images and color choices and even hints at a Graphic Novel type of look. Very different. Great use of illustration...

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2.2.09 // jason r said:

well done, jarrod.

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2.4.09 // Anonymous said:

"The main influence was hieroglyphics" ...but the outcome was fresh and original ! Great out of the box thinking and execution.

Anne T.

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2.6.09 // Anonymous said:

Nice. So nice. So great to hear the story behind the design, also. It's inspiring. We've all hit walls.