It was clear during the discussion that the sailfish theme book cover was the more appropriate resolution for the competition brief. This design had an element of the story on the front cover, was more visually creative and aligned itself more with the requirements of the brief. People preferred to buy a cover design that was unique to the title rather than one that indicated a series of books, which what Fig.1 suggested. Fig.1 would only be appropriate if Capote's novels were sold as a collection, which is not how it will be intended to be sold by Penguin.
The main aim of the session was to get feedback on how to make the cover itself look more attractive to the average reader. The black and white colour scheme does not achieve this because of its monotony and the layout of the elements are laid in a traditional manner that may make the cover go unnoticed by the judges. As much as the phrase is to not pick up a book by its cover, the cover is the books first impression on the reader. It needs to be 'a striking cover design' as Penguin states. However rather than improving the visual aspects of the design, suggestions were made to incorporate design elements that made the reader want to pick up the book on the shelf. This is a big difference that can determine whether the reader purchases the book itself. This means incorporating tactility to the design, e.g. embossings, die cut, foiling, etc.
Another way the design could be improved was to hone in on the sailfish motif. To explore the themes around this pivotal point in the story and to demonstrate it as creatively as possible. One example included combining the imagery of a hangman's noose to a fishing hook. The hangman represents the final outcome of the two murderers whilst the hook represents catching the sailfish. When together they both symbolise the overarching message of getting caught.
No comments:
Post a Comment