Interdependencies Publication
Editorial Design | Collaborative Design | Image Editing | Design for Academia | Critical Design
What it is:
This was a collaborative editorial design project for the Political Ecologies Working Group, part of Political Ecologies as Practice: A Regional Approach to the Anthropocene, an academic initiative funded by Humanities Without Walls at UIC. My focus was designing the cover of the book and page spreads for Hopium Economy, a short play on themes of dependency and substance abuse nestled within a larger collection of regional political ecology writings.
What’s inside:
Tension
A visual language that reflects instability, uncertainty, and dependency, mirroring the themes of the text.
Constraint
Design decisions shaped by strict limitations on image quality, format, and collaboration.
Interconnection
A multi-voiced design system that weaves together separate works into a shared, overlapping narrative.
The book:
Design Approach:
Book
Our team of three divided the responsibilities: I handled all image editing and manipulation, while Nicole and Layne focused on typesetting and layout. The biggest challenge was working with a limited set of low-resolution, pre-approved images. Every visual element had to be carefully cleaned up, rebuilt, or composited to meet print quality—without losing the gritty, fragmented feeling that suited the piece.
Cover
The book’s cover was also a collaborative effort across design teams. Each group contributed one visual element inspired by their section, passing the file along in sequence. Our addition responded to the themes of substance dependency and disorientation, helping to shape a cover that feels layered, unstable, and deeply interconnected, just like the stories inside.