Art
The Aeneid Book Cover
by Anne Kostecki
I took Latin (yes, the dead language) for four years in high school. My teacher was such a passionate, lifelong instructor, that I have to credit her with my interest in all things classics and mythology-related. I wanted to design a book cover, and I think reading a book gives you more insight into a cover design, and so I picked the book we translated in Latin class: Virgil's Aeneid.
The book chronicles the 10-year seaward journey of Aeneas after the Trojan War, and before he founds the city that would become Rome. Since the Mediterranean Sea features so heavily in the story, I decided to create a watery texture for the typography and matched it with crashing waves for the surrounding space. I designed the lettering to resemble the sheen of a blade, in reference to Aeneas' military expertise. I kept the color palette limited with blue-green and gray ocean hues, so that the tumultuous waves carry the sense of adventure.
