If you’ve ever wondered what it would look like if a middle school group project, a box of melted crayons, and a rogue WordArt enthusiast collided inside a burning copier, All of Us: An American Adventure is here to provide a visual answer—and possibly a migraine.
Let’s start with the art, which appears to have been drawn during a highly emotional episode of Pictionary on a moving bus. At the center is what looks like Earth—or a blue and green stress ball—ensnared in a fiery red aura that may represent either cosmic energy or a really angry jellyfish. Surrounding it are figures in various states of confusion and distress: a bare-chested man flexing while playing a trumpet (or summoning judgment?), a building mid-fall (?), and a top row of haunted, floating heads that look like they’re judging you for even looking at this cover.
And then there’s the ghost woman, gently dabbing tears while a skeletal demon lurks nearby. It’s like each corner of the canvas was assigned to a different artist with conflicting instructions, no communication, and a 10-minute time limit.
But the real act of war here? The typography.
Someone—perhaps the same someone who once thought WordArt was too subtle—decided the title and author’s name should be flung diagonally across the art like a rogue power cord. The curly serif font is screaming “wedding invitation,” while the placement screams “graphic design is my panic.” The phrase “Novel Written By” is inexplicably crammed into the middle like a formal interruption. No hierarchy. No readability. Just vibes.
And let’s not ignore the fact that the cover image is boxed in with a thick red border, making it feel even more like a scanned homework assignment from 2002. Then, just to ensure maximum confusion, a miniature version of the cover is awkwardly slapped into the lower right corner—as if the original image is photobombing itself.
There’s no visual cohesion, no genre clarity, and no indication of what this book is actually about. It could be dystopian fantasy, an apocalyptic memoir, or the world’s strangest self-help guide.
Final diagnosis: All of Us: An American Adventure is less a cover and more a graphic design escape room. If this is the adventure, we’d like to get off the ride.
Because this isn’t art direction—it’s chaos with a glue stick.