The brief for this project was to design an editorial publication, of at least 12 pages, based on the theme of the future.
I chose to design a sixty page 'coffee-table' book on the science fiction writer, William Gibson. Gibson's novels have been critically acclaimed and are often cited as writing that has – accidently or otherwise – predicted the then future of technology and human attitude towards it in modern life.
I chose to design a sixty page 'coffee-table' book on the science fiction writer, William Gibson. Gibson's novels have been critically acclaimed and are often cited as writing that has – accidently or otherwise – predicted the then future of technology and human attitude towards it in modern life.
The content is laid out in chronological order and divided into three sections, one for each of the three main trilogies of books William Gibson has released. Section One is based around the Sprawl trilogy, and uses a glitched, pixel scattered effect – created in Adobe Photoshop – to play on the theme of human interaction with technology. Section Two is based around the Bridge trilogy, and uses cropped images of relevant subjects with colour gradients from the images applied to the titles and the body copy. Section Three is based around the Blue Ant trilogy, and mainly uses a double-exposure effect – created in Photoshop – to make the real-life cityscapes that the stories are set in look more like a science fiction world.
I created the front cover illustration in Adobe Illustrator – based on a photograph by Michael O’Shea – using a variety of stroke styles and weights to create the effect I wanted, while keeping the illustration simple. The book was created in Adobe Indesign and printed at Inky Little Fingers, with a matt laminated hardback cover and 170gsm Silk inside pages. Images are original or are licensed under Creative Commons (noncommerical).
Thank you and I hope you enjoy!
Thank you and I hope you enjoy!
Front cover - Vector illustration created in Adobe Illustrator, typography in Japanese and English saying “William Gibson”
William Gibson's signature, scanned and recreated from my own copy of Neuromancer
Contents Page with page numbers and content for the rest of the book
Introduction page on William Gibson, talking about his early life and his writing style
Early Work page talking about William Gibson's first short stories
Neuromancer book page, William Gibson's first book
The well-known first sentence of Neuromancer, photography of my old television screen in the background
Predictions in Neuromancer, elements of the book that seemed to come true after it was written
Count Zero book page, the sequel to Neuromancer
Alien 3 page, for an unused script written by William Gibson
Mona Lisa Overdrive book page, the sequel to Count Zero
The Difference Engine book page, a collaboration between Bruce Sterling and William Gibson
Agrippa book page, an art piece book/poem/floppy disk that destroyed or encrypted itself after one reading.
Quote page, a famous – and often repeated – quote by William Gibson
Virtual Light book page, the first book of the Bridge trilogy
Reality Television prediction page, linked to Virtual Light
Johnny Mnemonic movie page, based on an early short story of Gibson's
Idoru book page, the sequel to Virtual Light
Hatsune Miku prediction page, linked to Idoru
New Rose Hotel movie page, based on an early short story of Gibson's
All Tomorrow's Parties book page, the sequel to Idoru
The Matrix movie page, looking at similarities between the movie and William Gibson's work
No Maps For These Territories movie page, a documentary on William Gibson
Pattern Recognition book page, the first book of the Blue Ant trilogy
Spook Country book page, the sequel to Pattern Recognition
Twitter page, talking about William Gibson's popular twitter – @GreatDismal
Zero History book page, the sequel to Spook Country
Distrust That Particular Flavor book page, a collection of William Gibson's non-fiction articles, reviews etc.
The Peripheral book page, William Gibson's newest – and only stand-alone – novel
Archangel comic page, William Gibson's first comic book run
Conclusion page, addressing if William Gibson can predict the future or not…
