Design Principles - Studio Brief 2 - Initial Ideas (2) book covers

After researching each of the book covers that would be re-designed, certain ideas came about on ways that the project could be approached. The main idea that came about, was to use the Marber grid system to structure the designs and create a more modern but minimalsitic approach to the covers. Therefore, I began by first using techniques used in the Design Process module, by cutting up paper and re-arranging it to use in the designs.

A Rage in Harlem

For A Rage in Harlem, referencing objects, or locations that were associated with the story was one way to approach the design element. The idea here, was to visualise Harlem street signs as well as a gun, which depicts the violence within the book. To gather further ideas for the book, I looked at ways in which the colour scheme and typography should be approach. To do this I found several examples of street signs in the United States, and the fonts that were used on them. The most popular was a font called ClearviewHwy which is found on most highways and street signs, as it is a clear and legible font that is easy for drivers to read. In terms of the colour scheme for the cover, looking at the themes of the book would allow an approach that reflects the recognisable meanings behind certain colours. For example, as the book includes instances of the character being in danger and there being conflict between characters, this would be best represented by the colour red. The Colour red would be most suitable for this design as it is universally recognised as having relation to danger or conflict.

After arranging several shapes to resemble street signs and guns, they were then scanned and edited digitally to create silhouettes. By creating the designs in this way, it was possible to keep glimpses of detail, while displaying a use of minimalism. After that, the designs were then placed onto the Marber grid to see which way would work best as a cover design.


A Clockwork Orange
Using the same technique as before, it was possible to create several depiction of clocks, classical music notes and silhouettes. These were then scanned and edited digitally, so that they too could be used for the minimalistic design of the book cover. By visualising a timepieces and clockwork, this would show the viewer relation to the title of the book. Also, the use of music notes was a reference to the main character's obsession with Beethoven's classical music.

A Christmas Carol

As the idea was to make the cover as modern and as minimal as possible, for the cover of A Christmas Carol, several cutouts were used for a silhouette. These would also be scanned and edited digitally over a background using traditional christmas colours, such as gold, green and red.