RED DRAGON: COLLECTOR'S EDITION
speculative work, 2025
Illustrated book binding, endpapers, and a title page design for a screenprinted Folio Society edition of Red Dragon by Thomas Harris, the origin story of the infamous Hannibal Lecter, who assists FBI agent Will Graham to catch the mysterious serial killer, The Tooth Fairy.
This is a speculative project and not associated with Folio Society.
I wanted to take a different approach from the covers previously designed for this book, as almost all of them featured variations of William Blake’s watercolor painting, “The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed in the Sun.”
I chose to focus on aspects of the Tooth Fairy, the book’s main antagonist and serial killer, who wore grotesque prosthetic teeth, placed broken mirrors in the eyes of his victims, and used home video tapes of families to gain insight into their homes and lives.
THE CONCEPT
I created wraparound illustrations for the binding and endpapers that include motifs from the story and time period that evoke a sense of dread and mystery, establishing a clear tone before the reader opens the book.
binding value sketches
1. Tooth Fairy’s Dentures
Based on the sharp dentures which gave Dolarhyde his nickname of the “Tooth Fairy.”
2. Shattered Mirror
An eye surrounded by shards of shattered mirror pointed towards it. The Tooth Fairy’s signature move is to place shattered mirrors in his victim’s eyes so they appear alive, and so he can see himself in them.
3. eye phases
Eyes rotated to reflect the phases of the moon. The Tooth Fairy plans his killings on the full moon and is influenced by the moon's phases.
endpaper value sketches
1. home video tapes
Front of a VHS tape with “LEEDS” as the front endpaper and “JACOBIS” in the back, the last names of the victim families.
2. Moon Phases
Phases of the moon arranged in a circle to allude to the Tooth Fairy’s pattern of murder.
3. Tooth Fairy’s View
The “Red Dragon” mahjong symbol carved into the bark of a tree, overlooking the victim’s home on the full moon.
TITLE PAGE value sketches
1. eye
Text wrapped around an illustration of a victim’s eye.
2. dragon
Text shape inspired by the curve of the dragon’s body and 80’s sci-fi/horror novel lettering.
3. FANGS
The “D” and “N” in “dragon” shaped to look like the Tooth Fairy’s fangs.