Station Eleven
Poster / Book Cover / Illustration
Station Eleven is a unique approach to science fiction, constructed to beautifully explore emotion, relationships, and art through the lens of a haunting dystopia. Civilization has come to an end after a devastating flu pandemic arrives in Toronto and proceeds to wipe out most of humanity. It is a post-apocalyptic novel that explores the aftermath of this pandemic. I found the story of Station Eleven beautiful and optimistic—art endures over global collapse. If we keep creating, we will all be OK. The challenge in my design was to capture this creative optimism yet still convey the ominous weight of the catastrophic pandemic. I also wanted to pay homage to the main characters, the members of the Traveling Symphony, a roaming group of actors and musicians who perform in the remaining settlements populated by other survivors. They have dedicated themselves to preserving and keeping alive the remnants of art from the times before.
The city skyline of Toronto is depicted in the background. This is where the story begins. This element provides a sense of place, and civilization, and a feeling of what isn’t there anymore after the pandemic—what was lost. The airplane illustration represents the airport museum, an important setting in the book. The spaceship illustrates the space elements from the graphic novel referenced in the story. This graphic novel was an important creative thread used throughout the book that ties the characters and story together, past and present. The light from the spaceship acts as a spotlight on the title lettering. The typography represents a stage for actors. I wanted to feature the theater elements from the book, and using the lettering as the stage was an effective way to integrate the typography into the art. The people on the title typography represent the stage actors from the book, celebrating the art and performance aspect of the story that is integral to the message of the poster.
2023
Adobe Illustrator / Adobe Photoshop / Procreate
