When I travelled through Iceland, I saw this book everywhere. Written by Iceland’s Nobel Laureate Halldór Laxness, Independent People is the saga of a man coming out of debt and, from my perspective, his relationship with his daughter. I don't think enough people know about this book, but it is timeless. I imagine it sitting in a Monocle coffee shop, or a travel store.

Independent People - image 1 - student project

I started the project off by brainstorming. The story is stark and sober, in a reality of a harsh climate but with tender imagery. The book cover I found captured its beauty quite well, but I felt could use a modern update. I felt that there could be lots of imagery around the sheep, the barns (summerhouse and winter house), and family. Below is my brainstorm session:

Independent People - image 2 - student project

Next I sketched some layouts. I read a transliteration of the title as “Free standing people”, so it made sense to me that the composition be based on a vertical flow line.

Independent People - image 3 - student project

Independent People - image 4 - student project

After that I elaborated on some more of the concepts, and circled the concepts I wanted to sketch up.

Independent People - image 5 - student project Independent People - image 6 - student project Independent People - image 7 - student project

Next I sketched out my layouts in Photoshop, using some textured brushes.

Independent People - image 8 - student project
Independent People - image 9 - student project

Eventually I came down to these simple, sparse concepts:

Independent People - image 10 - student project Independent People - image 11 - student project

I knew that for lettering, I wanted to go more towards the simple and minimalist than the decorative - I don't think decorative would have worked for this book. I also felt that the tone of the book suited a modern san serif, since they bore no frivolities.

When it came to coloring, I wanted to draw in Iceland's dramatic landscape. It has a lot of earthy tones, but also strange streaks of vibrancy - much like the characters in the book.

Independent People - image 12 - student project Independent People - image 13 - student project

My final rendering:

Independent People - image 14 - student project

Courtney Taniguchi

Product Designer

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