Letters To A Young Poet

DESCRIPTION

Letters to a Young Poet is a collection of ten letters written by Bohemian-Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926) to Franz Xaver Kappus (1883–1966), a 19-year-old officer cadet at the Theresian Military Academy. Rilke is “widely recognized as one of the most lyrically intense German-language poets.” He wrote both verse and highly lyrical prose. Several critics have described Rilke’s work as “mystical.” The letters in the book contain invaluable advice on how to be a poet or artist in general, but the wise advice Rilke provides can be applied to anyone on how to be a good human. Rilke’s timeless letters about poetry, sensitive observation, and the complicated workings of the human heart are still a constant guide for me whenever I am in need of direction.

APPROACH

This is a book cover redesign that I illustrated on my iPad in Procreate. The objective of this project was to re-create a book cover of your choice that would effectively communicate the book’s essence and inspire the reader to stop, look, and buy the book. My approach to this redesign was to re-read the book and gather the themes and moods to portray them on the cover effectively. Letters to a Young Poet has been designed and redesigned multiple times. When redesigning anything, the challenge is that you’re constantly competing with all the other already existing designs. My challenge was to remain faithful to the book while presenting a fresh take on the themes and creating a book cover that is eye-catching to anyone who might walk by.