Development of Three Chosen Book Cover Design Layouts
The next stage of my development work into creating a book cover design for 'Noughts and Crosses' by Malorie Blackman, was to experiment with drawing out the front and back cover. I started to add text such as the title of the book and author's name as well as the copy for the back cover and the title of the book for the spine.
The first cover design idea I created portrays a rope knotted at the top to show it is being used to hang a person. It references two deaths that occur in the book, both Callum and his dad are sentenced to death by hanging when they are captured by the 'Crosses' police for being involved in a terrorist group. The teardrops positioned in the negative space created by the knot represent Sephy's tears of sadness for Callum's death. I used marker pen and gel pens to create the design. I kept the colour palette simplistic, there are two colours combined with the black text and white background. I think the design is quite eye-catching but the white background makes it appear a bit flat with a lack of energy so I could have considered using a coloured background. Red might work well to convey a dramatic sense or a dull colour such as grey to represent the solemnity of the theme.
The second cover design I created portrays two friendship infinity bracelets, one is white and the other is black. They are drawn fastened onto the cover, the backs of the bracelets are drawn onto the back cover to make them appear as if they have been put on there. I decided to draw infinity bracelets to suggest that Callum and Sephy's friendship is everlasting even though Callum is a nought and Sephy is a cross. The title of the book is written in dark pink handwritten text, I also added the dark pink to the bottom of the second bracelet on the back cover because I was covering up a mistake. Therefore, I feel that this design isn't as strong as it could be. I don't think the bracelets are recognisable enough in conveying friendship and the typography doesn't stand out enough. I could definitely experiment more with the composition, in particular the bracelets that could be positioned horizontally and the author's name which could be bolder.
The third cover design I created portrays three tree trunk bases of various sizes. Each base is a rough 'nought' shape with a 'cross' engraved within each tree trunk using the marks created by wood. I think this is my most abstract idea which makes it more interesting in some ways because it keeps the reader guessing a bit more. I like the variation from a larger tree trunk base, to a medium and then a small one. Each is slightly different in appearance as no two tree trunk bases are the same. The text is of a 'sans serif' handwritten style, I think this suits this design idea because of the many marks present within each tree trunk base. I intend to develop this idea further, perhaps only using one larger tree trunk base and adding colour. I also need to explore use of composition and typography to create a cover that both promotes the book and represents its key themes in an engaging way for the contemporary reader. I could explore putting the title of the book and the author's name within the tree trunk base to combine the text and image together in a clever way. I will need to ensure that the text is still easy to read and understand, perhaps by using bold typography or a rich colour. I also need to make the copy and other book details look professional and in place within the whole cover design.
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| Cover Design 1 - Hangman's rope |
The first cover design idea I created portrays a rope knotted at the top to show it is being used to hang a person. It references two deaths that occur in the book, both Callum and his dad are sentenced to death by hanging when they are captured by the 'Crosses' police for being involved in a terrorist group. The teardrops positioned in the negative space created by the knot represent Sephy's tears of sadness for Callum's death. I used marker pen and gel pens to create the design. I kept the colour palette simplistic, there are two colours combined with the black text and white background. I think the design is quite eye-catching but the white background makes it appear a bit flat with a lack of energy so I could have considered using a coloured background. Red might work well to convey a dramatic sense or a dull colour such as grey to represent the solemnity of the theme.
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| Cover Design 2 - Friendship Bracelets |
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| Cover Design 3 - Tree Trunk Bases |
The third cover design I created portrays three tree trunk bases of various sizes. Each base is a rough 'nought' shape with a 'cross' engraved within each tree trunk using the marks created by wood. I think this is my most abstract idea which makes it more interesting in some ways because it keeps the reader guessing a bit more. I like the variation from a larger tree trunk base, to a medium and then a small one. Each is slightly different in appearance as no two tree trunk bases are the same. The text is of a 'sans serif' handwritten style, I think this suits this design idea because of the many marks present within each tree trunk base. I intend to develop this idea further, perhaps only using one larger tree trunk base and adding colour. I also need to explore use of composition and typography to create a cover that both promotes the book and represents its key themes in an engaging way for the contemporary reader. I could explore putting the title of the book and the author's name within the tree trunk base to combine the text and image together in a clever way. I will need to ensure that the text is still easy to read and understand, perhaps by using bold typography or a rich colour. I also need to make the copy and other book details look professional and in place within the whole cover design.
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