I was introduced to Richard Powers's impactful and panoramic fiction works by his #1 best-selling fenomenon of a novel: The Overstory.
Playground was the third book I read from him, and it didn't disappoint. It is an irreverent portrayal of the Ocean, but it also explores topics like play, competition, identity, technology, AI, memory, dementia, and more.
A mosaic of stories connecting an oceanografer, an artist, a tech CEO, and a poet, with the island of Makatea. Telling us about the wrongs of the past and urging us to think more deeply about the future.
Two of the main characters connect over their love of chess, but soon move on to its even more challenging, three-thousand-year-old cousin: Go. The game is mentioned over and over again in the book, and is used as a metaphor for the power struggle between technological advancement and nature preservation.
I used the grid of a Go board to create a pixelated glitch effect on the cover, alluding to technology and memory loss as important themes in the story.
The front of the case design depicts a manta ray on a Go board. These incredibly smart creatures are a living embodiment of the mysteries of the ocean, as well as impactful characters in some of the novel's most memorable scenes.
Makatea is the most important location in the story. Powers spends a considerable amount of time spotlighting its fascinating history as well as the culture of its people. A map of water depts surrounding the island serves as the endpaper design.
Font: Avenir Next
Photographs: Envato
Author photo: Dean D. Dixon
Note: The texts on this design are from the W. W. Norton edition of Playground. This is a self-initiated project I created for my own creative satisfaction.
