This project required in-depth research with a subject of my choosing, and developing an editorial concept and narrative strategy, write original text, and generate original imagery.

My subject had a very rough childhood all the way through adulthood, including abusive parents, manipulative family members, and monster bosses; these traumatic experiences are good fuel for a story worth telling, especially with the promise of a brighter future. This book has an elongated landscape orientation, so that holding the book might be uncomfortable, and makes it feel like it might fall if not held properly.

The dust jacket and book cover is dark to communicate the shadow that is my subject's childhood. In some of my interviews he told me that he has mostly blocked out his childhood memories, showing the need for a dark beginning to the book. I used a combination of ink and digital manipulation to create the imagery.