On occasion, I like to do assignments alongside my students at Temple University Japan, as exploring more abstract approaches to work is fairly rare in Japanese design pedagogy.

The assignment:
Literary Metaphor
Design a poster for an author or critic from the list below whose writing interests you and whose ideas you find
thought provoking. The poster should be large scale (at least 20 inches by 30 inches), in color, and should include the usual who, what, when, and where information that would be appropriate for a book signing, reading, or lecture. The poster must include images as well as typography.
The challenge is to create a visual metaphor for literary ideas that is intelligible without being a trite one-liner, as well
as seductive without relying on usual overworked stylistic trickery.

Potential texts:
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
Fires/Where I’m Calling From by Raymond Carver
Labyrinths/Dream Tigers/Ficciones/The Book of Sand by Jorge Luis Borges
Who’s Irish by Gish Jen
Stripping by Pagan Kennedy
The Periodic Table by Primo Levi
Collected Stories by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Kavalier & Clay/The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon
Natural Disasters by Al Burian

For my own poster, I chose a book not on the list that students might be familiar with- The Silent Cry by Kenzaburo Oe.

I included 30 different visual metaphors within my poster design, as well as allusions to Oe-san’s recent legal troubles due to his reporting on a WWII massacre in Okinawa.

The poster was printed 60 inches wide by 110 inches tall using a variety of metallic inks, usual CMYK process, and white ink.