Book Design: Milk and Honey

My process for redesigning the book Milk and Honey is rooted in its exploration of sexual trauma, abuse, and female empowerment. To illustrate this, I drew a vagina as the central image on the cover, with a honeycomb pattern behind it and milk pouring from the edge of the page toward the vagina. To me, the milk and honey symbolize the healing of wounds held within a woman’s body, particularly the vagina, as a result of the various forms of abuse the book addresses.

When we think about bees, it’s worth noting that female bees are the workers and the procreators. Male bees die after giving all their DNA to the queen bee for procreation. This inherent empowerment in nature is something we should not overlook. The milk could also symbolize the fluid a woman produces, representing self-discovery and orgasms. That is powerful and defies the patriarchy's expectations of women by showing they can experience pleasure independently of men. The healing of these wounds is found within the female body, and reminding readers of this is what I feel the book’s message conveys. These are the key reasons I chose this type of illustration.

When it comes to the specifics of how I chose each color, the structure of the honeycomb, or how the milk would appear, it’s challenging to articulate. I often have a vision in my head when creating a design, and my next step is to find a good reference photo to help bring that vision to life.