Image of the book cover for a book about Christopher Nolan. The cover has a sketch that represents the structure of his first screenwritten film, Memento.

Cross-Cutting
Christopher Nolan
Book design, 2023.

The concept of dealing with time as a physical reality fascinates Christopher Nolan. The director, producer and screen-writer plays with our perception of the truth by cross-cutting scenes to create non-linear timelines and by conceptualizing universes where time has multiple layers. I designed the cover and pages for a book about the essence of his work.

Front, side and back cover of a book designed for Christopher Nolan.

To play against expectations of what the cover “should” look like, I focused on his process rather than the end result. I extracted Nolan’s sketch from an 18-minute interview where he explains and illustrates the structure of Memento, his first screen written film. I vectorized it to make it as clean and precise as his work.

An animation of the sketch of the structure of the movie memento, a film by Christopher Nolan
Four spreads from the book Cross-Cutting, about the director Christopher Nolan.

His approach, philosophy and signature visual style inspired an essentialist approach made with a black and white color palette and a sans serif typeface. The wide, one-column paragraphs and the placement of the folios are inspired by film strips and the experience of watching a movie at the theatre.

Contents page of a book about Christopher Nolan on a grey background.
Introduction page of a book about Christopher Nolan on a grey background.
Divider spreader of a book about Christopher Nolan on a grey background.
Spread of a book about Christopher Nolan on a grey background.
Spread of a book about Christopher Nolan on a grey background.
Spread containing a quote from Interstellar of a book about Christopher Nolan on a grey background.
Spread of a book about Christopher Nolan on a grey background.
Spread containing a still from Oppenheimer for a book about Christopher Nolan on a grey background.
Image of the book cover for a book about Christopher Nolan. The cover has a sketch that represents the structure of his first screenwritten film, Memento.

Cross-Cutting
Christopher Nolan
Book design, 2023.

The concept of dealing with time as a physical reality fascinates Christopher Nolan. The director, producer and screenwriter plays with our perception of the truth by cross-cutting scenes to create non-linear timelines and by conceptualizing universes where time has multiple layers. I designed the cover and pages for a book about the essence of his work.

Front, side and back cover of a book designed for Christopher Nolan.

To play against expectations of what the cover “should” look like, I focused on his process rather than the end result. I extracted Nolan’s sketch from an 18-minute interview where he explains and illustrates the structure of Memento, his first screen written film. I vectorized it to make it as clean and precise as his work.

An animation of the sketch of the structure of the movie memento, a film by Christopher Nolan
Four spreads from the book Cross-Cutting, about the director Christopher Nolan.

His approach, philosophy and signature visual style inspired an essentialist approach. The wide, one-column paragraphs and the placement of the folios are inspired by film strips and the experience of watching a movie at the theatre.

Contents page of a book about Christopher Nolan on a grey background.
Introduction page of a book about Christopher Nolan on a grey background.
Divider spreader of a book about Christopher Nolan on a grey background.
Spread of a book about Christopher Nolan on a grey background.
Spread of a book about Christopher Nolan on a grey background.
Spread containing a quote from Interstellar of a book about Christopher Nolan on a grey background.
Spread of a book about Christopher Nolan on a grey background.
Spread containing a still from Oppenheimer for a book about Christopher Nolan on a grey background.