famous couples book

designer's statement

the traits i focused on for each character were playfulness and the stereotypical ‘good’ for Princess Bubblegum and the ideas of darkness and callousness from Marceline. both possess these traits, however, and i wanted to juxtapose the two elements within the metaphorical representations of each character. i tried various symbols from gum, to blood, to an axe. i had decided on the fairly recognizable Halloween fangs and peppermint candy. not only are they fairly directly representative of the characters forms (candy & vampire), but they also embody the dichotomy previously mentioned. the ideas of a harmless and nostalgic kids’ toy with a deadly killing machine within Marceline, and the ideas of the sweetness and comfort with the idea of a brittle, hard, resilient crunchy shell. the toy fangs and crushed peppermint also represent the relationship between strength and vulnerability within each character. Marceline, with the scary exterior and sensitive personality, or Bubblegum with the sweet exterior and harsher and colder personality. this dichotomy of the sweet and dark, or soft and brutal, is highly apparent within the show’s context as it has whimsical characters and settings, while the context is that of a war torn post apocalyptic world with many dark themes and subject matter.