Mockup Featuring Flat Lay of All Cover Designs
Overview
An Animated Archive is a box cover redesign of three classic Philip K. Dick novels: Ubik, A Scanner Darkly, and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Inspired by the aesthetics of retro-futurism, this project explores themes of life, death, and immortality—core ideas that run through each novel’s sci-fi narrative.
Cover Design for 'A Scanner Darkly'
Cover Design for 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'
Cover Design for 'Ubik'
Concept & Cohesion
The three covers are designed to function as a cohesive set. They share complementary color palettes, matching spine designs, and a symbolic visual language. When viewed together, the spines reveal a continuous motif: a hand reaching toward a central object, representing life or mortality. This functions as a nod to each novel’s exploration of existence and humanity.
Spine Design for 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'
Spine Design for 'Ubik'
Spine Design for 'A Scanner Darkly'
The box set packaging features a futuristic skyline that blends all three narrative worlds into a single, surreal cityscape. This cover illustration isn’t just a static image; it comes to life through augmented reality.
Mockup of Books in their Matching Box Set
Augmented Reality Integration
Using the ArtiVive app, viewers can scan the skyline illustration and watch it animate into a dreamlike scene—buildings dance to the beeps and bops of sci-fi drums, lights flicker, and the cityscape comes to life. This AR integration bridges the gap between traditional print design and digital interactivity, bringing a new dimension to the storytelling experience.
Mockup of the Box Set Augmented Reality Animation
This feature pays homage to the ever-blurring boundaries between reality and illusion; one of Dick’s most iconic themes.
Original Cover Sketch for 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'
Final Cover Design for 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'
Stylistic Approach
A key inspiration for the project was the Retro-Futurist aesthetic: vintage paper textures paired with unexpected color combinations, bold vector illustrations, and nostalgic sci-fi motifs. The visual language strikes a balance between clean graphic design and expressive illustration, grounding the reader in both the past and the imagined future.
Project Style Tile
This project became a personal turning point in my development as a designer–illustrator hybrid. It challenged me to blend storytelling with stylistic consistency and to create immersive, multi-sensory work.
Mockup Featuring All Three Spine Designs
Symbolism & Storytelling
Each book’s cover features a hand holding a symbolic object that reflects the novel’s concept of “life”:
Ubik - An immortality spray
A Scanner Darkly - A pill known as "Slow Death"
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - An artificial eye
These symbols helped anchor the narrative visuals while preserving a unified look across the series.
Mockup Featuring All Three Cover Designs & Box Set
Takeaway
The AR Boxed Set is a celebration of speculative fiction, retro-futurism, and experimental design. It transforms passive reading into an interactive experience and explores how we can extend storytelling beyond the page.
Project Specifications
Project Type - Publishing, Illustration, Animation
Original Art Direction - (2022) Prof. Scott Laserow for GAID Advanced Graphic Design
Addition Edits - (2025) Mockups Reimagined
Programs Used - Apple Procreate, Adobe Creative Suite, & the ArtiVive App
Resources - The Public Domain, UnSplash (Textures), Adobe Fonts, ChatGPT (Planning ONLY), Grammarly (Case Study Proofing)
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