Don Tillman Trilogy
Narrative Identity System
Book cover and film adaptation design system exploring connection, contrast, and narrative structure.
Overview
The Don Tillman Trilogy is a conceptual narrative identity system developed for Graeme Simsion’s Rosie series and its proposed film adaptation. The project explores how typography, sequencing, and recurring visual forms can create continuity across a multi-part narrative while allowing each title to maintain its own identity. The system includes redesigned book covers, connected spine compositions, a dust jacket, movie poster, and promotional applications.
The challenge was to create a cohesive visual identity for three separate books while reflecting the tone of the series: structured, humorous, analytical, and emotionally human. The system also needed to extend beyond the book covers into film promotion and branded collateral.
Problem
A mostly achromatic palette creates structure and contrast, while muted accent colors distinguish each book in the trilogy. Repeated DNA motifs appear across covers, spines, dust jacket, poster, and collateral to unify the system.
Approach
The visual language was built around the concept of connection. Abstracted DNA forms reference Don Tillman’s background in genetics, while custom typographic connections and ligatures reinforce the relationship between characters, titles, and narrative progression.
A mostly achromatic palette creates structure and contrast, while muted accent colors distinguish each book in the trilogy. Repeated DNA motifs appear across covers, spines, dust jacket, poster, and collateral to unify the system.
Design Applications
The identity system extends across publishing, promotional, and event-based applications, reinforcing a cohesive visual language through typography, recurring DNA motifs, and controlled color variation.
Film Adaptation Promotion
The promotional campaign extends the publishing system into a cinematic format, translating the visual identity across posters, environmental advertising, and supporting promotional materials.
