Hyperlove
Our design for Naomi Morris’ lyrical examination of desire is part syrupy daydream, part sardonic lust
Hyperlove is Naomi Morris’ burning exploration of heteronormative ideals, romantic happily-ever-afters and the historical oppression of women and their right to agency and expression.
The approach to the design was derived from the ambition to communicate the juxtaposition of various themes within the work, including interpretations of visceral desire, the aforementioned notion of ‘happily-ever afters’ (both through idealistic and sardonic lenses) and the dream-like confusion of longing (again both romantic and in lust).
Seeing the light
Early in the process we took inspiration from Naomi’s concepts of prismatic / refracted light and the swirling and ethereal forms of clouds, light and water. Makina’s Robin subsequently sent me a series of his photographs of flowers—close-ups at almost macro-proportions—that conveyed that same undulating, woozy qualities that spoke to both the book’s thematics and conjured imagery, whilst also becoming the first photographic-infused Makina cover of recent times. The palette the image suggests of hot pinks, reds and more skin-like tones was also intertwined with a rooted expectation of both love and fervour, and a more cynical, inverse commentary of these subjects.
Typographically, the title font Bastaleur—by the excellent and outlandish French foundry Velvetyne—also attempts to conjure feelings of fairytales, mysticism, folklore and a hypnagogic state, often working in contrast with the graphical imagery that surrounds the words.