Book Club Flyers/Posters
Design is something I enjoy both inside and outside of work. A few years ago I started a book club with my best friend, and one of our traditions is that each month a different member hosts. Whenever it’s my turn to host, I design a custom flyer and/or poser for that month’s book and gathering.
Each flyer is created to reflect the tone or themes of the story we’re reading. The goal is to create something that feels visually connected to the book while still clearly communicating the event details.
I create these using a mix of Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and Adobe Firefly, combining illustration, photo compositing, and generative elements to build unique visuals for each event.
They started as a fun way to invite friends over for book discussions, but they’ve also become a creative outlet where I can experiment with visual storytelling, typography, and layout outside of product work.
Signs Preceding The End of The World
For this flyer, I wanted the design to reflect the novel’s themes of migration, death, and the journey through the underworld.
The original artwork I started with was the book cover, which was formatted vertically. Because the flyer needed a wider layout, I used Adobe Firefly to extend the background into a landscape composition while maintaining the visual style of the original image.
I then used Adobe Illustrator to combine and arrange the design elements. I added marigolds and monarch butterflies, which are powerful symbols connected to death and remembrance in Mexican culture dating back to the Aztec period. Marigolds are traditionally associated with Día de los Muertos and are believed to help guide spirits back to the living world, while monarch butterflies are often linked to returning souls.
These elements tie directly into the themes of Signs Preceding the End of the World, which follows a protagonist journeying across the U.S.–Mexico border in a narrative that parallels the Aztec underworld (Mictlán). The goal of the composition was to create something visually striking while subtly referencing the cultural and mythological layers embedded in the story.
Design Details
Tools: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Firefly
Techniques: Generative background extension, image compositing, symbolic visual storytelling, layout design
We Burn Daylight
For this flyer, I wanted to visually reference some of the major symbolism that runs throughout the novel. One of the most recurring symbols in We Burn Daylight is the lamb, which represents innocence, devotion, and sacrifice within the cult at the center of the story. Because of that, I made the lamb a prominent visual element in the composition.
I also wanted to incorporate the original book cover artwork, particularly the atmospheric clouds, which I felt captured the tone and mood of the novel. Using Adobe Photoshop, I modified and expanded the cover image so it could function as a soft, atmospheric background.
To add more narrative context, I created illustrations of the two main characters and the lamb in Adobe Illustrator. These elements help visually anchor the story while keeping the design cohesive with the overall color palette and tone.
Unlike most of the other flyers I designed, this one uses a portrait layout. I wanted to experiment with a more poster-like composition where the characters and symbolism could sit prominently in the lower half of the design while the event details remain clean and readable above.
Design Details
Tools: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop
Techniques: Character illustration, symbolic visual storytelling, photo editing, layered composition
The Familiar
For this poster, I wanted to capture the dark, mystical atmosphere of the novel and visually reference some of the symbolism that appears throughout the story.
Using Adobe Illustrator, I built the composition by combining several different visual elements, including artwork, photography, excerpts of book text, and elements inspired by the original book cover. The goal was to create a layered collage that felt immersive and slightly unsettling, mirroring the magical and dangerous world of the novel.
I also incorporated symbolic imagery from the story, such as the scorpion and pomegranate, which represent themes of power, temptation, transformation, and danger. These elements help visually anchor the poster in the narrative while adding depth to the composition.
After assembling the design in Illustrator, I used Adobe Firefly to refine the image by smoothing harsh edges and blending elements together so the final composition felt cohesive and polished.
Design Details
Tools: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Firefly
Techniques: Collage composition, mixed-media layering, symbolic visual storytelling, generative image refinement
Dark Matter
For this flyer, I wanted the design to reflect the central idea of the novel: alternate timelines and the way the main character’s life diverges across different realities.
To build the composition, I combined several visual elements in Adobe Illustrator, similar to the collage approach I used for The Familiar. The central image features overlapping silhouettes that appear to split and diverge from one another, which visually represents the protagonist navigating multiple timelines and versions of himself. I originally discovered this image on Pinterest and felt it captured the core concept of the story extremely well. From there, I built the rest of the composition around it, layering the typography and event information into the scene.
The repeated “Dark Matter” typography across the top of the design was inspired by one of the alternate versions of the book cover that I particularly liked. Repeating the title across the composition helped reinforce the theme of parallel realities while also creating visual rhythm and contrast against the darker background.
Design Details
Tools: Adobe Illustrator
Techniques: Image compositing, layered typography, collage composition, visual narrative design
