Walter Tevis is a novelist and short story writer. He writes science fiction and literary fiction. These 3 books showcase game masters of chess, billiards, and 9 ball. Both players have their own vices that they rely on to get themselves through a game.

The design approach was inspired by the vices of the characters. The main character in each book smoked throughout the entirety of the book. The vices used are mainly drugs and alcohol. Using these vices during game play was said to help their game. So using this unifying element of smoke, I hid the book specific icons within that are key elements to the stories. The games played were chess, billiards, and 9-ball. While these are very strategic games, I wanted to juxtapose this with the fluidity of the smoke. This fluidity is representation of how the players feel while under the influence of their vice. While being loose they are able to focus and maintain a high level of game play.