Bret Easton Ellis Covers

Problem
Design covers for books by author Bret Easton Ellis that communicate his stories’ themes.

Insight
Stories by the author generally contain violence, debauchery, drug use and addiction, promiscuity, and general indifference. The extend to which these themes are present can only be, at best, hinted at. I chose to focus on the higher core-concept of the book.

Solution
I started with developing an aesthetic and a system for the series. Sparse layouts with minimal but powerful imagery communicate the general indifference of these characters while also conveying the adult themes.

Less Than Zero
Less Than Zero is Bret Easton Ellis’ debut novel. It’s the 1980s. Clay, the protagonist of the story, returns home to LA for winter break from Camden College on the east coast. Throughout his descent into the netherworld of the la drug scene, he loses his faith in his friends, and grows alienated with the amoral party culture he once embraced.

The most pronounced theme of Less Than Zero is escapism.

Clay commonly stares into the sky, his mind separating itself from his reality; he and his friends frequently engage in drug use. These are common identifiers of the escapist mindset, and I combine imagery of the two in this cover in a way that attempts to trick the eye for a moment. A row of clouds set against the sky can be perceived as a line of cocaine —the characters’ drug of choice — laid out on a mirror, and becomes more convincingly so when put in context with a razorblade.

A vanguard in the aesthetic system of the series. The type on the cover, spine, and back are treated in this same fashion throughout the series.

The Rules of Attraction
The Rules of Attraction is a dark comedy and satirical novel that focuses on a handful of rowdy and often sexually promiscuous, spoiled Bohemian college students at a liberal arts college in 1980s New England, primarily focusing on three of them who find themselves in a love triangle. The novel is written in first person narrative, and the story is told from the points of view of various characters.