Interesting book cover design / contemporary design

Visual research

I decided to look at interesting ways other book covers communicate themes and ideas, as well as different practical ways of doing so; I need my initial ideas to be varied and in depth in regards to experimentation. 

I looked at this design in particular for reference of illustrative book covers; the cover features quite a clever metaphor relating to the subject of the book, which allows the design to not be point blank obvious. For what seems to be quite a formal book by the title, the illustration juxtaposes it and offers an intriguing and playful element. I could take inspiration from this method and create some illustrations that would share Bill Brysons' tone of voice. 

I really like the use of photography in his cover design, as the high contrast image treatment adds drama and suspense which relates to the books' narrative. The vivid green colours seem to work really well at creating a striking image, as well as the drama provided by negative space surrounding the image. What seems common with penguins' book covers is that the text/ title is often placed above the image at the top of the book; could this be a convention I follow or stray away from? 

This cover design is interesting in how it uses a very simple shape to develop a symbol, which in itself is immersive to the audience, hence linking to the book itself; I like how it almost creates an optical illusion, and the choice of title placement is very original. I could possibly play with a similar concept in regards to the subject of the non fiction book; e.g. black holes?

This very simple cover design by David Pearson for Nineteen eighty-four embodies the idea of 'a smile in the mind', through the clever method of covering the books title to attribute to the themes of censorship within the book itself. I think that often in book cover design, simple strategies such as this work really effectively as they lack obviousness and maintain originality. It would be interesting to play with how I could subtly manipulate things to send a message, as it would make my design more intriguing.  

These cover designs involve methods using exclusively simple symbols and shapes to convey messages; they take inspiration from op art, which adds a layer of illusion to the covers. These symbols are visually striking, and are clever in the sense that they don't directly relate to the book titles themselves. There is a hypnotic element to the designs, which in a sense leads intrigue to audiences. I could play with this method in building curiosity to my audience, as the book itself was written on the basis of curiosity. 

This cover design for Truman Captoes' In Cold Blood uses a focus on type design inspired by newspapers to convey themes of the books crime narrative; the ripped effect is quite clever in creating a 3D image, which provides depth to the design instead of it looking quite flat. Akin to previous contemporary design, this cover isn't an obvious reference, and pushes consumers to consider the designs relevance. The negative space surrounding the image also works in favour to add drama, and create a focus on the paper. It could be interesting to use a ripped effect to create texture in my own design? Or even focus on one simple object. 

This cover for The Werewolf of Paris works nicely in how it uses negative space to create a very dramatic and suspenseful image, linking to the themes of the novel; the high contrast between the black and white tones provide a focal point of the teeth. I also like how the image treatment of the teeth works to create a more abstracted image, with a clear focal point. I could take inspiration from this strategy to create drama in my own design - however, I'm not sure how this would work in relation to the witty themes of Bill Brysons writing.  

Erik Carter

I decided to look at Erik Carter in particular as he is known for his simplistic and abstracted book cover designs. I really like the abstracted shapes used in the first cover, as it creates a high contrast image that slightly disrupts the title; due to this, there isn't a feeling that the type is just placed on top of the image, as it feels intertwined with the image itself. As well as this, the involvement of shapes links to the book itself, yet obviously in a very abstracted way. The design for 'the weight of things' is solely focused on type, yet uses it to create an overarching theme relating to the book; the text creates a sense of heaviness, and I like how each word interacts with each other. In my design development, I could push myself to solely use type to create a personality; e.g. how could I use type to create a link to science? The last book cover was really interesting to me, mainly due to its juxtaposition between the text and the illustration; the topic is about 'anything sad' yet is coloured playfully and quite childishly, which is further explored through the illustration. This links to my own design decisions as I want to create a sense of playfulness; I could do so by creating 'bad' drawings to add a sense of humour?