James Thurber’s beloved short story brought to life through a 16-page booklet.
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
An ordinary man escapes his humdrum life through extraordinary daydreams—becoming a daring pilot, a renowned surgeon, a fearless sharpshooter, and more, all in the span of a single afternoon. But reality keeps interrupting. . .
This reinterpretation captures the tension between Walter Mitty’s inner world and external routine through expressive typography and playful format changes. Text is initially restrained within grey boxes and surrounded by negative space, reflecting the quiet pressure of Mitty’s day-to-day life. As his fantasies grow more intense, the text escapes the boxes, scale shifts, and unexpected formats appear. These format changes bring Mitty’s imagination to life and reflect the thrill, absurdity, and urgency of his inner world pushing against the limits of the real one.
Mitty’s turn as a renowned surgeon appears as a tucked-in operation card.
A sniper’s scope zeroes in on Mitty’s daydream as a skilled marksman on trial.
Mitty’s heroic mission as a WWI flying ace is retold through a mock newspaper clipping.
Even the cover plays a quiet role in the story. Though his name is the largest piece of the title, hinting at how he views himself as larger than life, a grey flap conceals it, revealing only “Mitty” at first glance. This concealment establishes Mitty’s relationship with reality and how it often overshadows him. Looking beneath the flap becomes an invitation to enter his inner world.