The goal of this project was to create a book cover utilizing both illustration and photography.
For this interpretation of the book cover, I honed in on the cleanliness of the character Patrick Bateman while also hinting at aspects of his psychotic side with the subtle placements of the blood spots. The knife is also a reference to his appearance in that he is always dressed sharply, but also makes a bolder statement in allusion to events in the book.
American Psycho was written in 1991 by author Bret Easton Ellis. American Psycho is a satirical black comedy novel centering around Patrick Bateman, a Wall Street investment banker by day and manic serial killer by night. The book seeks to critique male behavior in the late 1980s as well as addressing the problematic ways of yuppie culture and the effects of drug abuse on the human psyche. In 2002, there was a movie adaptation starring Christian Bale as the lead role of Patrick Bateman.
I made the decision to use a knife and a business card to signify Patrick’s occupation and allude to the disturbing personality he hides from society. I used my own knife and printed out business cards, I experimented with different angles for each until I decided on these two photos to use for the final production.
I focused on making a very clean and pristine illustration to also reflect Bateman’s mask as he presents himself to the world, yet at the same time I also focused on making his eyes look blank and empty to reflect that what he presents is not what he actually is on the inside. I based his facial appearance on Christian Bale, but not heavily as I still wanted his overall appearance to portray the “same-face” syndrome that is often described in the book.
