Explosion of Hay

Haywire Book Cover
Photoshop, 300 dpi.
6" x 9"

Type is a very difficult aspect of artwork to deal with, more so in the area of Graphic Design because it is so prevalent. I rather enjoy type. The fundamentals are pretty dry; however, when you start to deconstruct type and build it up to be your own, it's very fascinating. The book cover above is a small project for my Graphic Design class. The assignment was to create a "type-driven" image based off of a one hundred word short story. The story I was given was published for the New Yorker Magazine, it's called "Haywire", written by Chuck Kensler. It's quite an achievement to portray a story in a little less than a paragraph. Read the story and try to put the pieces together.

"Angie left Virgil -- left the baby too. For the past five months Virgil's been planning for today's homecoming.
Angie says in her fidgety bird voice, "Lo, Virg. Ain't too gooda day is it? Waddyathink, Virg, waddyathink?
"Not so good. She's in the other room."
A tear in the window shade angles light into a cardboard box where the baby lies, dreamless. She is in her best clothes, as if dressed for a tea party. Virgil strokes her soft-hair and pale cheek. He ties the lid closed with white string.
Then his mind explodes into a pile of loose hay."