I read this book as a love story between an old fisherman and the sea. While I briefly looked into the sea personified as a woman, as it has been in many cultures and fables, in the end I felt that the Marlin itself was enough of a representation. The mystery of it, the pain he goes through trying to conquer it, the grief he feels when he finally does having embraced his foe as his friend, and his despair when it is once again torn from his control, all represent his lifetime struggle with the sea, the love of his life.
This project wasn't only about finding the images to represent the text, but was an exploration of the world of publishing. Using Penguin as an example, I looked into format, typefaces and imprints, along with exploring more traditional letterpress techniques, in order to understand how this book would fit into the marketplace. |