Hyperlove - Frontwards Design

The back cover of the book Hyperlove by Naomi Morris. A woozy, ethereal background, made up of undulating reds and pinks, sits beneath four review extracts placed in the centre of the page.

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).

The inside cover spread from the book Hyperlove by Naomi Morris. The left-hand page is made up of a repeated pattern of overlapping circle motifs, alternately containing heart and tear icons, white on a misty blue background, which is mostly obscured by the woozy red-pink coloured flap of the book's front cover, which contains a paragraph of text underneath the heading 'About Hyperlove'. The right hand page has a black background and the white text of the title spread across the page in an arch or rainbow shape, tears dripping from the 'O'. Bordering the page is an abstracted smartphone screen interface, with tear, moon and heart icons in place of the expected wifi, battery and network icons.

An interior spread from the book Hyperlove by Naomi Morris. Both pages have black backgrounds and white text. The left-hand page contains two instances of the book's title in an arch shape. The first is the same orientation as a rainbow, and tear shapes drip from the 'O', whereas the second is upside down, like a smile, with heart shapes emanating upwards like smoke from the 'O'. Bordering the right-hand page is an abstracted smartphone screen interface, with tear, moon and heart icons in place of the expected wifi, battery and network icons, and a review extract sits within this frame.

A composite render of the book ‘Hyperlove’ by Naomi Morris with an accompanying rectangular print and large circular sticker. The sticker has a black background with the text Hyperlove repeated around the perimeter of the circle. The print has the same woozy, ethereal red-pink background, which is covered by a repeated pattern of pink heart and tear shapes.

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.

Buy 'Hyperlove'