Smashing Book 6

For the design of Smashing Book 6 I had a lot of freedom, which is always equally exciting and scary. The only certainty was that the S of Smashing Magazine should be the main protagonist of the front cover, as it was on other Smashing Books. I was free to creatively present the S as I saw fit.

I concentrated on a few of the keywords Vitaly Friedman (founder of Smashing Magazine) used to describe the book, and developed an idea around classical adventure novels where the main hero leaves home, encounters great hazards, has to take risks and eventually returns wiser and richer than before.

I thought of Smashing Book 6 as a way to examine this basic and mythic structure through a new lens. Through the articles contained in this book, the modern web designer will be experiencing true and deep adventure.

I imagined the S as an engine, the starting point where different worlds were created before then expanding outwards. The cover became the map of these uncharted territories explored within the book.

Knowing some of the contributors, and having read some of the chapters, I wanted to honour their hard work that had gone into creating the content by designing a gorgeous cover and elegant chapter illustrations.