The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, originally published in 1900, is a classic tale many of us are familiar with. However, I was only exposed to the storyline as represented by the movie and music. I chose to redesign this book because I wanted to reimagine a contemporary version of a classic, steering it away from the vintage fantasy aesthetic.

One of the main visual motifs of my design was to set the words of the titles and chapter openers askew so they would look as if they are playfully falling apart or as if they are being chaotically rearranged. Dorothy being blown to a far away land, the main character's self-identifying limitations being broken down, and the facade of Oz falling apart are some examples of why I chose this approach. I also wanted to acknowledge the beloved lyrics we all know so well, displaying them in the silhouette of a tornado, encapsulating the sweetness of Oz in the vehicle that brought Dorothy there as the main cover image.

Through these design decisions, my intention was to avoid leaning into the grandiosity of Oz and instead play into the endearing qualities of humanity in the book.