Illustration
Last year we received a challenging cover re-designing project, Sayaka Murata’s Convenience Store Woman the translated version. We were expected to bring a similar stunning image, and we were very excited to explore new ideas on keeping the redesigned cover as remarkable as the original one.
The novel tells about Keiko, a seemingly ordinary girl who needs to work in a convenience store to keep her sanity intact. The story flows easily with the deeper complexion packed in her day-to-day encounters.
We adopted the juxtaposition between the mundane life and much deeper takes in the cover redesign concept.
The overall look with the lively colors dominating the first impression represents the surface of the novel. It delivers the relatability and everyday objects we associate with convenience stores. At the same time, we contrasted the vibrance with the massive blank space, emphasizing the overpowering yellow. We believe yellow is a color of contradiction. While it mostly conveys joyfulness, in some cases it also masks the emptiness, the loneliness, and confinement hiding behind the all-happy look.
The hollow and unsettling vibes were strengthened by the rough strokes in the painting, the character’s stale expression is another.
