Formative feedback

Firstly we stuck up all our cover designs, in the penguin template, around our room. There were all shapes and sizes, some had printed the design to fit the whole A3, others were too small, mine was just right lucky just right. We were asked to chose a cover design that was opposite our space, I got Nath’s, and we had to critique there work and give them some honest feedback. Nath said mine look contemporary, which is good, but question my layout saying the title went over the crop mark, but I explained that was intentional as both the sides of the title are cropped. Then in a group, with Ray, we went through all the designs on our side of the room and discussed them in more detail. Overall Ray and the group were pleased with my minimalistic monotone design. As the majority of the designs in the room had the colour orange in it or other cliches from the film(not even the book), I’m glad I designed something original.

Feedback 

• The silhouette of Alex conducting doesn’t quit look in proportion – can easily adjust this.
• The type on the back is too big – although it’s only 12pt, maybe try 11? see how it would look printed and see how it looks wrapped around a book.
•  The knife in Alex’s hand doesn’t work, especially as it goes through the O – something I can alter.
• As predicted, the printed image was a lot different to the screen design – I plan to experiment with different papers and see what colours work against each other.
• The hand, which is not holding the knife, doesn’t look natural – I can maybe add a second tone to the conducting silhouette like I did with the crouching one.
• The design is minimal and I think I did that well, but I think it might be worth exploring some typography as it’s an element I have considered, but not for the style I wanted to achieve.

Aside from the difference the printed version has to the on screen design. I’d say I’m pretty happy with the outcome, considering I spent 2/3’s of the project researching and that it’s the first design I’ve done properly on Adobe Illustrator, it’s been a good project. Even though the book was controversial and not something I’d usually read, or watch in the case of the film, I become really interested in it, especially the authors intentions.

Silhouettes, development and final design

Work up to the finishing design

When we had the first lecture with Cathy she talked a lot about the use of silhouettes. saying it takes all the human qualities away from the image leaving it de-humanised. One of my ideas was Alex conducting with his razor(weapon), again going with the idea the music and violence going together. I got Ben to pose so I could trace his silhouette on Adobe Illustrator, before these last couple of weeks I hadn’t used Illustrator to design much….in fact anything, but I’ve built up a lot more confident using it.

after some artist direction these are the Images of Ben conducting…with a knife.

I chose the one I thought was the most fitting and traced it –

Inspiration behind my idea is comes from when I wrote this when studying Burgess use of music in the book

As the book is written in the first person, which we feel part of, it’s like the main character Alex is playing what Burgess is conducting. But I also feel like when Alex is the victimizer he is conducting the music, when that changes in the second and third part, as he becomes the victim, it’s as if he becomes deaf and blind, and unable to conduct his own life.

I needed a silhouette that contrasted that of him conducting. So again I asked Ben to pose, this time crouching and holding his head being depressed and wanting to give up on life.

Again I live traced it on Illustrator, resulting with this

I spent a good hour experimenting with composition, how it would look and the cover and colouring/layering –

Before I used Images of Ben I had played around with a simple silhouette  –

The blue design was the first I did. then I went to the red one’s where I experimented with the type and contrasts of the silhouette, but I came to the conclusion, as aesthetically pleasing the red and black was…it looked like a zombie horror, maybe the imagery didn’t help. I thought the green/blue tone was more neutral and had a more mood ora to it, plus it’s almost the complete opposite to the colour orange.

Using the images I traced I produced these –

Mock-ups on Photoshop

I like the monotone and decided to merge the image of him conducting and crouching. I was also inspired by Queens of the stone age: Go with the flow, Music video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcHKOC64KnE

Final designs

Features

Book Mock-up

I wanted to created a minimal design, with not to much information about the story and that stayed away from the cliches e.g. colour orange, the eye, milk, blood, The Droogs outfit, etc. I did spend most of two weeks we had researching, and I’m glad I did. It honestly made the designing process so much easier and compared to last years penguin cover designs, I’m much happier with this outcome, Both contextually and the visual solution to the brief.

Music outcome and design in context to book cover template

Even though I don’t think I’ll use this, I definitely believe it’s worth mentioning.

Finished design

Features

I did my best to make it look as authentic I possibly could. In order to do this I research a lot of musical technical meanings, which was interesting.

As I’ve said the book has been split into three sections, so that is why my design has three lines of music, two on the front and one on the back. The first expression Alex’s love of violence and music, The second is barely visible as he becomes reformed/brainwashed and can’t see the music, and then the third section on the back of the book is back to where he started. I’ve finished the last line of music on the back with the musical symbol for repeat, as that what the book is about, the full cycle.

Mock-up

Although I was happy with the context behind the idea, the design itself was too simplistic and lacked something. I spent time trying new things and developing it but nothing seemed to work. In the meanwhile I became favourable of another idea.

What makes a successful book cover?

I explored the web to find out what makes a successful book cover design.

The cover of your book is important because it’s the first thing a reader sees. A successful cover will stop people in their tracks, evoke interest and portrays an accurate idea of what your book is about.

Be General and Open-Minded

The more general your cover idea is, the more likely we’ll be able to create a successful design. If your cover idea is too detailed, we may have difficulty creating a design that looks professional.

Don’t Show Too Much of Your Character

It may be tempting to show your book’s main character on the cover but this usually isn’t a very good idea. Most reader’s prefer to use their imagination to depict the story and characters in their head.

Be Simple, Strong and Symbolic

Refrain from depicting a specific scene on the cover of your book.

The book’s genre is important

The book cover should show what genre the book is. Look at these two book covers. It is an easy task to understand what kind of books are in front of you, right? A really good book cover “talks” to its readers through choice of typography, imagery and metaphor.

Minimalism: Less is more!

Minimal style is timeless. It helps to focus on the book’s title and authors name.

An achieve of Minimal book cover designs on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/designquixotic/book-covers/

Consider audience

Humans are visual creatures so give careful consideration to the book’s imagery.

What Makes a Good Book Cover according to Kyle Vahnemert of WIRE Magazine 

Of course, catching a potential book-buyer’s eye is only part of Mendelsund’s job. A truly great jacket is one that captures the book inside it in some fundamental and perhaps unforeseen way. As Mendelsund describes it, his job is “finding that unique textual detail that…can support the metaphoric weight of the entire book.” That, of course, requires actually reading a manuscript closely enough to A) determine the metaphoric weight of the book and B) find a handful of relevant details within it. In other words, making a great book cover isn’t just about making. It starts with understanding

Peter Mendelsund

Peter Mendelsund is best known for his smart, witty, and visually arresting book jackets for Martin Amis, Ben Marcus, Stieg Larsson, Tom McCarthy, and James Gleick, among many others, as well as for his repackaging of classics by Simone de Beauvoir, Franz Kafka, and James Joyce. The associate art director of Alfred A. Knopf and the art director of Pantheon Books

Resources

• http://www.authorhouse.com/authorhousetv/5Tips-Cover.aspx
• http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/designing-book-covers/
• http://www.wired.com/2014/09/makes-brilliant-book-cover-master-explains/#slide-x
• http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/portrait-cover-artist-interview-peter-mendelsund