Facade of Foreplay
COFFEE TABLE BOOK

Concept Development
Creative Direction
Editorial Design
Typography

A publication exploring how Playboy has influenced American popular culture, its exploitation of women, and role in the Women’s Lib and Me Too movements. The concept of fragmentation of one’s self as the byproduct of objectification and abuse is a visual thread throughout the book, visually represented through dissected imagery and typography, textural fabrics, and high-contrast colors and visuals. 

We begin in 1963, when feminist Gloria Steinem, was sent undercover for a fluff piece at the infamous Playboy club in Manhattan. Steinem revealed the facade of being a Bunny in her published essay, “A Bunny’s Tale.” Despite advertisements promising glamor, lucrative incomes, and empowerment the Playboy clubs were insidious boy’s clubs that exploited its workers for sexual favors, cheap wages, and poor working conditions. Steinem’s journalism and revelations of the clubs informed our understanding of Playboy’s abuses, which continued years afterwards at the mansion, on sets, and behind closed doors. Ultimately, her work peeled back the curtain and laid the foundation for contemporary survivors to share their experiences, which are centered throughout the publication.