THE STORY BEHIND THE COVER DESIGN OF 'SURFING THE INTELLECT', by Dilip Mukerjea

Dilip Mukerjea takes meticulous planning & painstaking attention to details, besides flexing his well-toned intellectual muscles & well-honed artistic virtuosity, when it comes to the writing of his many books.

In fact, his level of unwavering dedication & laser focus apply more intensely when designing & crafting his book covers, as he wants to get the essence of what he has written in the book to be captured visually - & metaphorically - by the front, spine & back cover, for first impressions of the browser.

In reality, the foregoing personal initiatives on his part do not preclude the design & crafting of page layout, tapestry of contents, graphic illustrations, book or section dividers, colour schemes for different segments of pages to denote different categories of ideas within the book.

That's why each & everyone of his books is a masterpiece on its own, not only in terms of originality of thought & intellectual ballast, but also from the standpoint of visual aesthetics.

'Surfing the Intellect' is one very good example, as you can see in the foregoing snapshot.

To help you understand the mechanics of his thought process behind the design of the front cover, I will let Dilip tell you the story, which is already outlined in his book, if readers are attentive.

Here's the recap:

■ Life emerged from water; eventually, our species evolved into its present form. The sea’s deep blue, the turbulence of her waves, impelling energy spraying upwards, represents this truth. It also connects up with the ‘surfing’ metaphor.

Moreover, the deep blue, contrasting with the cover’s paler colours, and ultimately, the white, represents the flow of life from darkness into light. When we surf the intellect, we emerge enlightened.

■ However, today, we are witnessing a marriage of the carbon brain (human) and the silicon brain (computer); this is shown in the metallic right and fleshy left sides, respectively, of the composite image.

■ The image is ‘completed’ by the back of its head contoured as a light bulb, suggesting an infinite fount for ideas birthing from nebulous stimuli.

■ The face is feminine; intentionally so, to acknowledge the yin, the yoni, the creative wellspring of all life. We are essentially feminine, regardless of gender.

“Woman is the creator of the universe, the universe is her form; woman is the foundation of the world, she is the true form of the body. Whatever form she takes, whether of a man or of a woman, is the superior form.” ~ from the Shakti Sangama Tantra

■ Gear wheels in the skull represent engagement, interlinking, meshing, of the machinery of thought, the mechanism of mind. It is an industrial metaphor no doubt, but one that links us to our breakaway from an agrarian past, and our breakthrough towards an intelligently evolving future.

■ The word ‘intellect’, is in bright magenta, and edged with a golden glow, to represent a passion for learning, a vibrancy of intelligence, an indomitable lifeforce that is our birthright!

By the way, 'Surfing the Intellect' is targeted primarily at CEOs, as well as entrepreneurs, managers & professionals. It's readily available at most of the Kinokuniya Bookstores.