FAMOUS COUPLES BOOK

Context
For a Penguin Publishing series on famous couples, I designed a conceptual book cover about Pablo Picasso and Françoise Gilot. I researched their decade-long relationship, learning how their shared love for art was both collaborative and volatile. My goal was to use symbolism and visual metaphors to capture the complexity of their dynamic while staying true to Penguin’s minimal, one-color branding.

Challenges
I had to communicate a turbulent relationship in a single image while only using one color. Penguin covers are intentionally minimal, so I had to balance creative storytelling with strict branding guidelines. It was also my first time working in a book cover format, which required learning new layout and publishing standards.

Process
I began with research notes on each individual and their relationship, then brainstormed visual metaphors. I chose gold to represent Picasso’s fame and success, which often overshadowed Gilot. Inspired by his abstract style, I created a precarious tower of shapes to symbolize imbalance, topped with a paintbrush to reflect their shared artistic bond. The back cover featured a dissolving geometric pattern to represent the fallout of their relationship. I experimented with color first, then refined the final design in Photoshop and InDesign with black-and-white shading and a single gold accent for impact.