If I was to illustrate it anyways I would still keep the cover in black and white, the contrast balance being 80/20, which due to the workings of human visual perception will make the white stand out, drawing the attention of the eye towards it. I would use the white for the streaks of light coming from a giant lantern in the center of the illustration. The lantern would be a build in and center part of an enormous complex of factory-like buildings with visible cogwheels and smoke coming out from the tall chimneys entangling with one another as well and the light beams from the lantern. Working different tasks around this miniature of modern civilization I picture large numbers of small human creatures all struggling to keep the fire of the lantern burning, even sacrificing themselves as fuel, thus illustrating the enlightenment eating its own children. In the far corners of the top of the cover the light of enlightenment would reach and dissolve images of ghosts, goblins and the Christian God (looking as most often visualized: An old man with a long white beard), representing myth and religion. But in the middle of the lantern, where the light is most intense the same figures would reappear, the only difference being that they are wearing glasses and modern pieces of garment like suits and top hats. In the bottom of the illustration, underneath the massive factory I would draw the heavily damaged nature overcome by humanity, science and technology. This would look like a forest partly chopped down and turned into mechanized agriculture: the few remaining wild animals in hiding next to personifications of the four defeated and enslaved elements. How exactly to draw human nature as a member of this repressed crowd I cannot figure out. I would like the illustration to somehow resemble a drawing from a volume of Where’s Waldo?, but the overall impression would be more dim and gloomy due to the obscure motive and the lack of bright colours. The title and the names of the authors would have to be merged in somewhere in the top and bottom respectively. I would like the letters to be in the handwriting of the illustrator rather than in a vector graphical font to keep the visual expression homogeneous.
This cover described would, in order to be both aesthetic and not entirely illegible, demand of the publication to be of quite large dimensions. Though this might be impractical at times is not solely a problem, inasmuch as it leaves room for a huge margin and thereby plenty of marginal notes.
[1] Except the fact that Max & Theodor’s pessimistic attitudes underlines the tone of the book just fine.
