PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The Adult is a queer coming-of-age novel about innocence, identity, yearning, sex, and poetry. It follows the story of shy college freshman Natalie who meets an older woman and is drawn into a relationship with her.

When I was designing this cover, I started with the title. I wanted to explore the word ‘adult’ in the context of the love affair. What is an adult? And, when we say that two people are ‘adults,’ are we implying that they are equal?

These questions have complicated implications for the characters in the novel, who use the word ‘adult’ almost as a cover-up—a way of justifying a relationship that is actually problematic. I wanted the design to expose this cover-up. To show that the word ‘adult’ is often at odds with the reality of childhood, which does not end all at once, and always lasts longer than we realize.

The idea of crying came to me. What if the ‘adult’ on the cover were crying like a child? I tried to represent this a few different ways, first using rips in the paper, then depicting the character’s tears as streams of blue. We chose the blue version because we wanted something soft rather than brutal for a character who is melancholy, gentle, and full of lament.

BOOK INFORMATION

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CREDIT INFORMATION

Creative Director: Terri Nimmo

Art Director:

Book Designer: Kate Sinclair

Jacket/Cover Designer: Kate Sinclair

Illustrator:

Photographer: Maria Orlova

Picture Editor:

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Production Coordinator: Trina Kehoe

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