Collection of book jackets!
For this project I have been set the task of creating 3 book jackets that look as though they're part of a set.
Here are the specific requirements set:
Here are the specific requirements set:
Aesthetic Cohesion
1. The books you can choose from have no relationship. They are not part of a narrative series, they are not written by the same author, they do not contain the same characters etc. Despite this, your designs must provide the disparate collection with an aesthetic cohesion. Further more, your outcomes should make it clear how other books might be brought into the collection. (Imagine you have been asked to provide a test sample, and if successful, you will win the contract to cover an entire collection of classics).
Cross Market Appeal
2. A challenge that publishers run into is creating a book jacket that can span cross market. A jacket that has to work across the 'aspirational' market as well as commercial supers (Waterstones to Asda). Senior designers from Schoolastic books will provide greater detail on what this means.
You are asked to demonstrate a treatment across a minimum of 3 titles, to include a full wrap (front & back cover + spine). You must include:
Title (cover & spine)
Author (cover & spine)
Synopsis (back cover)
barcode & price box (back cover)
You can add any other details that you believe lends your work believability.
Dimensions
20.1 x 13.7 x 2 cm
(spine widths vary from book to book, but in the case of this project we will use 2cm as a standard width)
1. The books you can choose from have no relationship. They are not part of a narrative series, they are not written by the same author, they do not contain the same characters etc. Despite this, your designs must provide the disparate collection with an aesthetic cohesion. Further more, your outcomes should make it clear how other books might be brought into the collection. (Imagine you have been asked to provide a test sample, and if successful, you will win the contract to cover an entire collection of classics).
Cross Market Appeal
2. A challenge that publishers run into is creating a book jacket that can span cross market. A jacket that has to work across the 'aspirational' market as well as commercial supers (Waterstones to Asda). Senior designers from Schoolastic books will provide greater detail on what this means.
You are asked to demonstrate a treatment across a minimum of 3 titles, to include a full wrap (front & back cover + spine). You must include:
Title (cover & spine)
Author (cover & spine)
Synopsis (back cover)
barcode & price box (back cover)
You can add any other details that you believe lends your work believability.
Dimensions
20.1 x 13.7 x 2 cm
(spine widths vary from book to book, but in the case of this project we will use 2cm as a standard width)
My top choices:
Out of the large list I decided to pick books with the common theme of horror as I am personally interested in this type of aesthetic but haven't fully explored it in a uni project yet.
- Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson
- Lord of the Flies, William Golding
- Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
- The Woman in Black, Susan Hill
I did decide initially to pick four books, although I'm not putting any pressure on myself to finish the fourth, which is the woman in black. That seems to be my backup option The if I decide to revisit this unit and create an extra book jacket.
Helpful videos on designing book covers.
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13+ Book covers.
I decided to go onto the scholastic website to look at examples of books that are aged 13 plus seen as though that's the age range I will be looking at in this brief. I wanted to look at what the pre existing covers look like to give me an idea of what kind of thing would be expected if this were a live brief.
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After looking at a few examples of what kind of illustration is popular on this age range of book I then decided to look at the type layout from these books. I drew a red box around the titles and green around the authors name. This helped me realise that the majority of these book covers keep the title rather large but definitely out of the way of the illustration to be expected near the middle of the page.
Books on the shelves:
Asda
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Waterstones
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Look at the shuttles. I had a look at the bookshelves in both Asda and waterstones and took some photos to show the examples on here too. I was quite surprised to see that they are quite similar in some ways, but you can tell it's very different in others too. I think my book jackets in particular are going to be more directed towards a Waterstones type shelf. This is because they're quite a lot darker and don't have to rely on bright colours, I want my book jackets to have a darker colour As I'm focusing more on horror stories. Another thing I noticed was at Waterstones there seems to be more illustration compared to on the book covers in Asda. It focuses more on typography and photography, which I'd assume is cheaper to make and therefore the overall book prices are cheaper too.
Scholastic classics set:
the brief have been set has actually already been done before. As you can see below, I have a couple examples from the covers from the set of classic books from scholastic books. I really enjoy how all of the book covers look wildly different, and of course all of the Stories are wildly different from one another, but you can clearly tell it's a set. is only use of two colours on each book. I find it interesting in fact that. Even though the colours are different on almost all of the covers because they're only using two colours. They all match with each other.
I really like the idea of using only one or two colours on each of my book jackets also, I think its a very strong way to make a set of very different looking things match one another well. It seems like a good way to have more freedom with the subject matter also while still ensuring that they match each other.
I really like the idea of using only one or two colours on each of my book jackets also, I think its a very strong way to make a set of very different looking things match one another well. It seems like a good way to have more freedom with the subject matter also while still ensuring that they match each other.
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Wrap around illustration.
I love the idea of my book jackets being wrap around illustration. It doesn't seem to be done as often now. But I feel like it looks a lot better and it can bring interest to the book itself as well, for example, if you're sat with a book open someone that’s sat across from you (on the train for example) could see that the wrap around illustration wraps around the whole thing. I think adds interest and hopefully would make people look at the cover more rather than just giving it a quick glance and deciding to read also. Id love for this to come back as a massive trend in book jackets as From my research it looks as though photography has kind of taken the limelight in recent years.
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Aesthetic cohesion
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One of the main things I have been tasked on in this brief is including aesthetic cohesion across all my designs. To achieve this, I have decided to first look at layout and then typography As shown below.
I started to look at different layouts in a simpler form and then choose which one I preferred and took that forward and I'm quite happy with. How it all fits together. I'm aiming so that the books will look good together sat on a shelf. I'll make sure the author and the title is in the same place across all of the jackets so that even if I incorporate different fonts it should still look good together |
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Chosen books research:
Jekyll and Hyde
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'Dr Jekyll is a kind, well-respected and intelligent scientist who meddles with the darker side of science, as he wants to bring out his 'second' nature. He does this through transforming himself into Mr Hyde - his evil alter ego who doesn't repent or accept responsibility for his evil crimes and ways.' 
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Frankenstein
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Plot summary: Frankenstein tells the story of gifted scientist Victor Frankenstein who succeeds in giving life to a being of his own creation. However, this is not the perfect specimen he imagines that it will be, but rather a hideous creature who is rejected by Victor and mankind in general. The Monster seeks its revenge through murder and terror.
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The lord of the flies
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Plot summary: William Golding's 1954 novel "Lord of the Flies" tells the story of a group of young boys who find themselves alone on a deserted island. They develop rules and a system of organization, but without any adults to serve as a civilizing impulse, the children eventually become violent and brutal.
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The woman in black.
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plot summary: a young Arthur Kipps, a junior solicitor, is sent to settle the affairs of Alice Drablow. He sees a woman dressed in black at her funeral, though apparently no one else does. At Eel Marsh House, a house beyond a causeway, Arthur is haunted by noises and sightings of the woman. Eventually a local man, Sam Daily, reveals the full story of how Alice Drablow's sister, Jennet, haunts the house. He explains that a child dies each time the woman in black is seen. At the end of the story, Arthur sees the woman in black again and his wife and son die in a terrible accident.
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Typography.
Another of the aspect I want to look at in this project is the typography, I feel like this is one of the most important aspects of the design process in this brief. Once i've decided on the typography that can go across all the different types of books (no matter the theme of the story) I can eventually get to the illustration. In this project, it's a little bit different from the usual as the illustration seems to come last in the design process. For example, I feel like if this was a live brief being set out by a company, they would probably set out the layout and the typography first And then hire the illustrator to add the artwork last. So I think that's the most logical way I can go about this project.
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Making a template.
I wanted to make a template on photoshop to use in all of my illustrations. Even if I stray from the template a little in the end, I made this as a base on my canvas. I knew I was wanting to create the illustrations digitally so this seemed like the most logical way to go about it.
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Thumbnails:
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Frankenstein.
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The lord of the flies.
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Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde.
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Different finishes
Embossing
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Foils
lamination
Bookmarks.
I couldn't seem to get the idea of making bookmarks to go with each book jacket out of my head. Therefore, I made these three. These would be added alongside the book Jackets. As part of the special edition, which would include my jackets on the covers.
I think they turned out pretty cute and cohesive, but very simple but I think that's the charm of them.
I think they turned out pretty cute and cohesive, but very simple but I think that's the charm of them.
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Conclusions.
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I initially drew all of my illustrations for these book jackets on procreate and I thought I could possibly get away with doing the typography as a mix of hand drawn type for the titles and just written type for the rest. This, however, was not the case. I really didn't like how they turned out and I don't think that they fit each other very well either. They didn't look very professional. I decided to fix this by choosing one typeface for the for the titles, another typeface for the extras and then another typeface for the blurbs. I am so much happier with how this worked out. As you can see below, They worked out pretty well in the end to look like a set.
I am very happy with how these book jackets turned out, considering I haven't really Created something like this before. It was quite out of my comfort zone, also really refreshing because I just drew it how I naturally enjoy draw and how I personally think my style is.. rather than trying to find anther artist or style to base it off. This was mentioned in a lecture earlier during this Project. We were told that we should be aiming to be at a stage now where all of our illustrations have some kind of consistency throughout and some kind of style, I personally have found that my style, and how i enjoy drawing, involves Line work and digital.
I am very happy with how these book jackets turned out, considering I haven't really Created something like this before. It was quite out of my comfort zone, also really refreshing because I just drew it how I naturally enjoy draw and how I personally think my style is.. rather than trying to find anther artist or style to base it off. This was mentioned in a lecture earlier during this Project. We were told that we should be aiming to be at a stage now where all of our illustrations have some kind of consistency throughout and some kind of style, I personally have found that my style, and how i enjoy drawing, involves Line work and digital.
Finals and mockups.
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Finals edited after feedback
During my final feedback session it Was suggested that i change a few things so as shown below I have done just that. The font for the titles have been changed to suggest the horror theme of the book. The shape behind the blurb has been changed to a rectangle with sharp edges and the titles have been made in colour, both to compliment them all as a set and also to make the colours pop.
I agree that these changes have pushed the final pieces to look even better! I am incredibly happy with how this project turned out.
I agree that these changes have pushed the final pieces to look even better! I am incredibly happy with how this project turned out.
