Author Chris Stepien has approached his latest book with a different writing style than his previous novel Three Days. Drawing from personal, traumatic experiences in his life, such as his wife being diagnosed with breast cancer, Stepien takes almost a memoir approach to his writing and uses and exposes these experiences to urge and help the reader to face their mortality on a tangible and quirkily, spiritually uplifting level. He acknowledges that none one wants to think about death, however ironically it's the only certainty in life.

Since this subject can very easily be cast in a negative light, the brief called for the design of the cover to be approachable and inspiring, rather than bleak and serious. We all have a set number of days that only the Creator knows, so rather than searching for happiness or wasting our time with trivial things, Stepien urges the reader (and wanted the design to reflect) a positive sense of urgency around our time here on Earth.

To play off of the idea of time, I knew I wanted to feature/represent a clock or hourglass of some sort on the cover. However since a clock or hourglass are such rigid objects, I had to pair it with an organic element to give the piece balance. After looking through some inspiration images, this hand-drawn approach to the typography paired with a tangible object was the perfect mix. Utilizing and manipulating existing typefaces and adding a few hand-drawn touches of my own, this cover and dust jacket came together to match the scope and brief exceptionally.