Design Practice - Studio Brief 1 - Research

Studio brief 1 – Live brief: Penguin Random House Student Design Award

Research stages

·      Imaginative concept and interpretation of the brief

·      Use of typography

·      Audience to consider

·      Avoiding typical ideas.

·      Consider grid layout

Truman Capote – In Cold Blood

This book is a non-fictional crime novel, which follows the investigation into a 1959 murder of a Kansas family. With no apparent motive for the killings of a man, a woman and their two children, there were almost no clues for Capote and investigators to go on. Capote reconstructs the murders and the investigation into the case, which resulted in the capture and execution of the killers.

Initially, In Cold Blood was published in The New Yorker in four parts and then release later as a novel in 1965.  The book was also the last to be published by Capote after it took a toll on him personally during the six years taken to write it.

The investigation started when Capote heard about the murder case in The New York Times. He began interviewing the people of Holcomb, Kansas and doing extensive research with the help of another writer, Harper Lee, who went on to write To Kill a Mockingbird.

The murderers in the case

Perry – Abandoned by his family and abused by nuns at a young age, which had a detrimental effect on his life. He recalls a reoccurring dream, involving a large bird, which saves him from anyone that might cause him harm. He does not have much of an intellectual childhood, however he does pursue it later in his life. Although he is seen as gentle, it is revealed that he is possibly the more brutal of the two.

Dick – A motivated and strategic man, who intends to pursue women and money, all while avoiding capture. Even after the murders, he shows no remorse or interest in speaking of the crime as he is focused on getting money and women. He is seen as the more street-wise of the two.

As there were limitations in the methods to finding clues at the time of the murder, a series of photographs were the primary tool for the investigation. These photographs, taken by Assistant Chief Ritch Rohleder, revealed a bloody footprint at the crime scene and tire tracks left by the get-away vehicle.

Key ideas of the book

• Brutal crimes committed against innocent people.
• investigation
• multiple murder
• the history behind the killers
• the motive for murdering the family
• objectivity 
• first ever 'nonfiction novel' to be written
• Truman Capote discovered the case while reading a paper.

Ideas for a book cover

• Newspaper layout, including typography and murder article style.
• murderers mugshot
• typewriter layout
• 1950s/1960s style

Adjectives to describe the book

• unique
• impactful
• honest
• sad
• iconic
• mysterious
• dramatic
• heavy
• creative
• memorable