My design for the cover of Norwegian Wood is inspired by a quote, 

where one of the characters refers to herself as the side of a matchbox, 

able to light up everyone but herself. From there, I decided to use the language 

The half-burnt match represents the protagonist, because of his deep struggles. 

Finally, the character of Midori is represented by the only match that is perfectly intact. 

The matchbox is representative of Reiko, following her own description of herself. 

I also designed another version of the cover, where the matches are the sole focus. 

I chose to do this because the first cover was slightly more lenient towards the romantic side of the story, shown through the petals and the more delicate and clean position 

of the matches, as well as a larger use of the colour pink. This second version, however, 

is more focused on the mental struggle of the characters, creating a messier composition on the cover, while still being minimalistic.