Man in a high castle


This novel is from the writer Philip Dick, a very famous sci-fi writer who has had many books made into movies. This is the only Philip K. Dick novel that Dick had the ability to write drafts, he (similar to writers like Dostoevsky) wrote to pay bills and had to write quickly.
This novel is set in post WWII America, but an America that is very foreign to us. The axis powers have won the war and America is split in two, half controlled by Germany and half controlled by Japan. Germany is the stronger economic power and controls most of the finances. There is a novel that is underground in this story called "the grasshopper lies heavy" and it is about a fictional world where America and the allies won WWII, which creates a multi-layered story.
The image is a simple or typical solution for a problem like this. The sun is pulled from a Japanese banner with the obvious Nazi symbol inside which symbolizes the power of the Nazis and the far reach of the Japanese. There are fades stars in the back which make the rays remind you of stripes, so there seems to be remnants of the American flag. There should be a strong obvious feeling of the Nazi's and Japanese, with an echo of America, which is really what the book is about.
This isn't a typical idea of a sketch, but I would argue that it is as valid as any sketch. The colors are just way off (the rays should be red and the Nazi symbol should be blue), and there are stars in the background that aren't visible at all, but this was a simple sketch that I did as an idea for a book cover that I am sure I won't ever design.

1 comment:

Burt said...

Your design tastes have changed! I don't think I would have seen this from undergrad Sean, right? It kind of reminds me of the newer Vonnegut covers.

Oh, and it is supposed to change colors when we click to englarge it???