What is this project about?

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco is an illustrated series containing five works of storytelling illustrations. It portrays the story from the Medieval European-themed mystery novel Il nome della rosa, translated from Italian into English as "the name of the rose." Since this published story has not had many illustrations made based on it, I have come to the interest in illustrating this five-piece series.

I applied the compositions and color palettes to the five illustrations inspired by manuscripts from Medieval Europe, the stage where the novel’s story takes place. I stylized the five illustrations to be reminiscent of not only that historical era but also emphasizing it being a modern-day adaption by visualizing them with a neater touch inspired by Art Nouveau and comic strips. The circular motif goes through the five pieces to build up an impression of retrospectively spectating the story through a lens. In each illustration works from "The Name of the Rose," the story it is telling is characterized, symbolized, and then fabricated together into the structured cohesiveness.