Full Cover
Design approach
Concept
One object carries the whole book. A red helmet, lit like a still life against near-black and cracked across the shell, says football, damage and endurance at the same time — which is exactly the subtitle’s argument.
Typography
The title is set in a heavy condensed face broken up with the same fracture texture, so the type and the object share a surface. The strapline above it is quieter and italic, so the reader gets the voice of the book before the volume of the title.
Back cover
The back repeats the title small, then gives the pitch, the author's photograph and his story in a single column. Everything sits on the same scratched black ground, so front, spine and back read as one printed surface.