I was tasked with creating an Experimental Portrait that I would subsequently transform into two different, but related, book covers: one photographic cover and one typographic cover.

Using vaseline on my camera lens as a means of blurring the image, I was able to execute a soft fantasy tone for the portrait. My final photographic solution portrays an extraterrestrial being seated in a floral, surrealist home setting, smoking cigarettes. My message in short: beauty can flourish amidst unhealthy habits.

Because of the alien-like design of the character in the portrait, I wanted my book covers to draw inspiration from retrofuturist sci-fi book covers from the 80s. My final photographic book jacket is designed to be printed on plantable, seeded paper. The intention is for the user to have the ability to plant the cover when they are finished with the book and allow it to grow. My typographic book cover was designed to mimic the fluid distortion of cigarette smoke, a complimentary element to the original portrait.

The final experimental portrait was instrumental in adequately portraying a narrative that was easily turned into two book covers. Overall, this project was very successful to me, my model, and my professor.