Why the Eye?
Artists collect reference. I have folders within nested sub-folders full of categorized themes, art styles, and visual subject matter. One of those subjects I’ve collected is the appearance of eyes featured in book cover illustration.
Eyes are an ideal visual tool for thematic communication and unlike our other senses, they both consume and express information. In the Kinstler cover (above), the eye is projecting a menacing glare, while simultaneously observing the human character with an intense sense of surveillance. In all three examples, the eye is a figurative representation of omniscients, alien power or governmental overreach. Who knew that the little orb could be so versatile?
While conceptualizing the branding for this project, LGM and I both seemed to get stuck on the idea of an eye. We had working titles that included the word “eye,” and I produced a few eye drawings…the third of which, was the final art used on the site banner. I added the colored triangles as symbols of projected fear and a visual device for danger (i.e. sharp shapes pointed at a pupil).
Later, the title “Cannibal Cyclops” developed though a series of emails and experiments. It’s memorable, and indirectly references the eye art. But is the eye that of the cyclops, or that of its victim?
Thumbnail image: Uncredited 1968 cover art to John D. MacDonald’s Ballroom of the Skies
