This book cover design is the result of a competition run by Murdoch Books for a new cover design for the popular “Girl with the dragon tattoo” series, written by Steig Larsson. The concept for this design involved finding a way to display the multiple layers of the story. The dragon represented the story of the titular character, but displayed as a “window” through which you can see the back-story of the missing girl running through a beech forest. The red/yellow/orange foreground was painted specifically for the design, to imply fire and anger. The design of the dragon – rather than using a typical Asian dragon design – was inspired by Nordic dragon designs, which linked with the Scandinavian origin of the story.
This design was awarded “Runner-up” in the competition.
Final entered design. Acrylic, charcoal and digital.
Working concepts and the layers of artwork.
