Howl’s Moving Castle
Brief: Design a book jacket inspired by Studio Ghibli’s adaptation of Howl’s Moving Castle. for the award-winning children’s compilation magazine, Friends.
An illustration commission for the Studio Ghibli film, Howl’s Moving Castle. This project commenced as an illustrative poster and evolved into a concept for a book jacket.
A central theme of this narrative revolves around the contrast between light and dark. Despite being constructed by cold metals, the castle serves as a home and symbolises the functioning of a heart. Consequently, I decided to reverse the colour palette and employ warm tones for the castle, contrasting it with a cold, rocky setting. To create the illusion of movement, I extended the background landscape throughout the entire book jacket. Additionally, the title typography reflects the castle’s disjointed and unstable structure by being displayed in different levels.
The project was subsequently developed into a book sleeve. I had to disassemble each layer to ascertain the progression of this design.
The spine maintains the same illustration as the cover but is adorned with a dark overlay. This scene depicts a nighttime moment where the character, Howl, consumes a star, initiating the chain of events that unfold throughout the story. On the back cover, the characters Sophie and Turnip Head are far ahead of these pivotal moments and are seen walking towards both versions of Howl -his past and future incarnations.
