Penguin Book Project 2023

Faced with the task of redesigning a book cover, I chose "Diary of a Young Naturalist" by Dara McAnulty out of the available options. I felt drawn to this book because Dara talks about his autism and how he deals with change and I relate to his neurodivergent thinking. There were many opportunities for book covers when taking inspiration from Dara McAnulty's discernible writing.

Planning for Penguin Project

I chose to research the book "Diary of a Young Naturalist" by Dara McAnulty. This is my ideas page where I took extracts of the book available online and picked out visual language to illustrate. The book is about Dara's experience in the natural world coping with change and ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). Dara finds comfort in nature and his autism manifests in his hunger for knowledge about all things to do with the environment.

Draft Book Cover

This sketch is inspired by an extract of "Diary of a Young Naturalist" where Dara McAnulty writes "We've lived in many places during my short life, in kind of a nomadic existence. But wherever we are settled, our home is crammed with books, skulls, feathers, politics, unbridled debates, tears, laughter and joy."

Inked Illustration

I was impressed with how I was able to reference so many parts of Dara's writing in my illustration. To further this worn and handmade nomadic feeling I chose to add watercolour.

Painted Illustration

I used muted tones to emulate the earthiness of the subject matter

My Finished Book Cover

Using Adobe InDesign I added the text for the book title, specifically choosing a font that would match the personality of the book contents. Dara is a very well-spoken and professional person so a font that imitates that was a clear choice. I think that my reimagined book cover works well with the book matter, it shows the organised mess of how Dara lives and presumably how he thinks.