Brief for In Cold Blood Book, from Penguin Books website.
We are looking for a cover design which breaks boundaries in the same way that the book did. It should be bold, maybe even shocking, yet remain true to the book, reflecting both its literary merit and its chilling content.
Your cover design needs to include all the cover copy supplied and be designed to the specified design template – B format, 198mm high x 129mm wide, spine width 20mm, incorporating all the PENGUIN branding and all additional elements such as the bar code.
What the judges are looking for
We are looking for a striking cover design that is well executed, has an imaginative concept and clearly places the book for its market. While all elements of the jacket need to work together as a cohesive whole, remember that the front cover must be effective on its own and be eye-catching within a crowded bookshop setting. It also needs to be able to work onscreen for digital retailers such as Amazon.
The winning design will need to:
- have an imaginative concept and original interpretation of the brief
- be competently executed with strong use of typography
- appeal to a contemporary readership
- show a good understanding of the marketplace
- have a point of difference from the many other book covers it is competing against
Copyright must be cleared for all images used in your cover design and you must include a credit line on the back cover of your design for any third party images used. For example: ‘Cover photograph by Joe Bloggs’.
Outlining the brief so it is as specific as possible will insure the deliverables are clear. Compared to some competition briefs Penguins awards are explicit on what they want. Highlighting the key design features in orange highlighter allows me brief to be simplified.
The website also features the profiles of the judges for each award, this is another useful piece of information for the designer to understand their interests, things they look for and their field of work.
All the judges work for Penguin books and have been part in innovative and experimental Penguin covers in recent times. John Hamilton has connections with the illustration world, Joanna Prior it explains is the Director of Penguin General Books and is responsable for text based art, Jim Stoddart has a background in designing record covers of large international labels. These information can be used as possible research avenues or design strageries to apeal to the judges.
It is clear from the past winners the level of quality, professionalism and engagement to the reader. The overall use of typography is the central feature in the designs the use of initially visuals work alongside the type and emphasis the concept behind the content. Using typographic imagery as the soul of the project seems a popular and effective design strategy for this project.
On the website with the brief it features some of the most iconic covers of the book, these images of covers in the past of In Cold Blood show a running theme of strong typographic forms, the thriller theme is clear in each of the covers. It is nice to see a range of styles on show within these covers the brief therefore is very open and can almost take any form within reason.
Brief To Kill a Mocking Bird
To Kill A Mockingbird is a Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece of modern literature and was voted the most loved book of the last sixty years by The Times readers in October 2009. It has been translated into more than forty languages and has sold over thirty million copies worldwide. So no pressure.
We would like you to design a new and classic cover for this book. The trick here will be to come at it from a fresh perspective and to avoid repeating the obvious iconography from the many previous editions in print. If you can get your hands on a copy of the book in order to get a sense of the beautiful writing, this will only help to inspire your design. The cover should feel timeless and confident, and appeal to a whole new generation of readers.
Your cover design needs to include all the cover copy supplied and be designed to the specified design template – B format, 198mm high x 129mm wide, spine width 20 mm, incorporating the ARROW branding and all additional elements such as the barcode.
What the judges are looking for
We are looking for a striking cover design that is well executed, has an imaginative concept and clearly places the book for its market. While all elements of the jacket need to work together as a cohesive whole, remember that the front cover must be effective on its own and be eye-catching within a crowded bookshop setting. It also needs to be able to work on screen for digital retailers such as Amazon.
The winning design will need to:
- have an imaginative concept and original interpretation of the brief
- be competently executed with strong use of typography
- appeal to a contemporary readership
- show a good understanding of the marketplace
- have a point of difference from the many other book covers it is competing against
Copyright must be cleared for all images used in your cover design and you must include a credit line on the back cover of your design for any third party images used. For example: ‘Cover photograph by Joe Bloggs’.
Like the 'In cold Blood' briefs the judges panel is useful information that can help with understanding what could be effective, Suzanne Dean's background is in packaging and brochure design before working in publishing, Richard Ogle was the art director at Transworld Books in 2015 working on a range of fiction and nonfiction covers as well as autobiographies. This information will inform research and design ideas.
These images show some of 'To Kill A Mocking Bird' iconic covers, depicting a mockingbird alongside typographic illustrations. Once again this range of styles and techniques is great as a designer to see as it allows for a lot of artistic freedom, each cover hear is different but successful in its own right.
The common theme within these covers is the mockingbird alongside the books title displayed as the central figures. With book cover design communication is key and often it is clear communication that is used, if the design works outside of this it must be appropriate for the target audience and the context of the book.
From this collection of information, writing up the briefs again in a more concise problem allows me as the designer to think about answer this problem.
In Cold Blood - Design a cover for In Cold Blood by Truman Capote using the Penguin books design template (198mm high x 129mm wide, spine width 20mm) considering its literary merit and its chilling content. The design must be eye-catching and engaging based on primary, contextual and visual research. Most importantly portay the story and be true to the book. All designs must work both printed and onscreen.
To Kill A Mocking Bird - Design a cover for To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee using the Penguin books design template (198mm high x 129mm wide, spine width 20mm) the designs must be new and classic outlining a fresh perspective that appeals to a younger audience outlining the master piece of modern literature. All designs must work both printed and onscreen.
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