Assignment 2: The Book Cover Redesign

The Design Assignment:

Create a book cover design which conveys a pivotal concept of the story, intrigues the viewer, and (ideally) compels them to buy the book.
As in the poster project, explore a variety of media and image- making techniques to discern which one(s) are most relevant to the concept and the story.

Specific Objectives:
 1. Research – Read the book; to develop more than a vague, surface-level interpretation of the story, you must have a feel for the language.
2. Develop your concept by exploring meaningful, innovative forms – photographic, illustrative, typographic, and abstract. What best conveys the setting, characters, conflict, and resolution of the story?
3. Create a cohesive composition of image and text.

General Assignment Objectives:

1. To engage in a thorough process of research, exploration, evaluation, and refinement 2. To present a well-crafted design that fulfills all criteria, and is completed by the deadline

Design Format:
Final should be a flat printed double-page spread of front, spine and back.

Required Content:
1. Your original image representing the story  (front/back/side)
2. Title of Book
3. Author's name (photo optional of author)
4. Publisher’s Logo
5. ISBN, price, barcode
6. Synopsis of the story (on back)

The Creative Process:
1. Read at least three pivotal scenes from the text. Get a clear notion of the arc of events. Show me which sections you read.

2. Write a one-paragraph overview of the story IN YOUR OWN WORDS. List out the main characters, setting, timeframe, and principle conflict(s) and any other interesting details. Build a moodboard of imagery.
3. Develop 10+ sketches for imagery ideas, 5+ illustrated solutions 5+ photographic solutions 5+ typographic solutions 5+ abstraction solutions
Denote the strongest two ideas that you will select from.
4. Sketch out or digitally compose 10 layout/compositional thumbnails of the 2 strongest ideas 
5. Choose the strongest solution.
6. Work out variations in color palette, typography, and composition; print at actual size

 

Starting the Conceptual Imagery Process:

Exploring specific types of imagery for the poster can lead you down unexpected paths, to surprising solutions. Regardless of your inclinations, you’re required to develop concept sketches in for categories:

Photographic – clearly the most realistic, it can still cover a wide range of subjects ... portrait, landscape, item(s), scenes, iconic or metaphoric (showing an item or object in a way which conveys something similar); consider point of view and composition of the frame; photography expresses largely through framing, point of view, technicalities of the process, and the subject itself

Illustrative – the power of illustration is in creating imagery that does not exist, that clarfies information, and/or that ex- presses through its media ( at color, watercolor, textures, and technique (strokes, line weights, color palette, etc.)

Typographic – using words, quotations, lyrics, or simple letter- forms to construct the sensibility of the story, its characters, setting, conflict, voice

Abstraction– the least realistic, abstract imagery is the most expressive, but only works if there is a tight focus on the distinctive characteristics of the event; otherwise an abstraction can be vague or unrelated; think of the image as being on the very edge of understanding ... it should
be comprehensible, and make sense, but only after a time of study and focus; we do not have much time to intrigue and then reward the audience, so this can be the most dif cult to execute successfully; examples could be patterns, textures, rhythms, and using the relationships between basic shapes or forms to convey meaning