Martin Müller designs covers for Specious Books that don’t, but could, exist

“The project was inspired by the dilemma graphic designers and illustrators are so often faced with in commissioned projects – all your efforts won’t heighten the quality of a poorly written book,” says Martin Müller of Berlin-based Dicey Studios. “And more importantly, why become an accomplice in spreading preposterous, even malignant works by helping to give them a more appealing visual form?” Martin’s response to this was to design a series of speculative and absurd book covers for the likes of Martin Heidegger, Beyonce and Canadian president Justin Trudeau.

“I aimed for contemporary designs that don’t give away the ironic character of the project through the visual language already,” says Martin. “The viewer can just appreciate the design, but then might stumble about the rather ambivalent implications of the titles and/or how they correspond to the supposed authors. The made-up publisher name “Specious Books” is an obvious hint though.” Martin is inspired by the likes of Gee Vaucher, John Heartfield, John Yates, Winston Smith and the spirit of independence and subversion in his work is shared with these artists. The designer is working on developing the content of the books and projects for the Berlin-based Splitter Orchestra; the design of a book by artist Endre Aalrust; several record designs for the newly found label Otomatik Muziek.