The Cover Design

It always made sense to design the cover around Anise’s guitar pick. The pick is the driving force behind the story. I thought it was essential to center the pick as a beacon, in the same way it is for our main character, Freida.

Star Anise Product Campaign Moodboard

Circling in on the key takeaways of the book (finding signs in the mundane, witchy rockstars, and obsession over an ex), I thought about highlighting the book in an everyday liminal space and allowing the cover design to be a beacon in the surrounding environment.

This campaign would be transferred to other liminal spaces such as subway train advertisements (as a train scene was mentioned in the book).

However, in this particular image, I wanted to showcase the book within a grocery store, surrounded by occult objects. I wanted to exaggerate the mundanity of the action (shopping at a grocery store), but upon observing the cart, it’s clear this shopper is looking for a little more than tomatoes.

Using ChatGPT, I was able to write a unique image prompt to create a specific product mock-up that matched the original Moodboard aesthetic with personal touches that reflect the supernatural undertones of the book.

*AI Prompted Image

In early designs, I wanted to highlight the yellow star motif in the story within the font as well. In the end, I chose to underscore the artificial and intense love Fredia has for Rockstar Anise in the retro hot pink title.