Book Cover Refinement

After the issues with the initial design I eventually changed to have a more contemporary aesthetic following the classic Marber grid layout. I decided to make the images darker in order to have a black tone rather than grey, which would coordinate with the black spacial zone at the top. By reverting back to the initial tones of the painting it becomes a lot more natural and textured. The contrast between the painting and the black works a lot better and appears more professional. This was inspired by a Penguin Classic I found in 'Classic Penguin Cover to Cover' by James Franco, which had a similar painted style, but the black from the figure's t-shirt helped to balance it out.

Gill sans has been used as it reflects a more modern and clean look, the serif I had used previously appeared too dated and didn't fit the design. Whereas by using variations of this type, in capitols and italics it appears more consistent, especially when the yellow colour from the design is used for the authors name. It also is more likely to appeal to a modern readership, poetry design is something that needs to evolve in order to keep the poetry relevant and applicable to a current setting. By using a sans serif type, it immediately feels more contemporary.

Book Designs in Context

It was important to see how the books would appear side by side and to a three dimensional capacity. So I printed the covers and placed them on books to give an idea.

These went fairly well but again it becomes clear that the colours are not cohesive and need altering in order to become a set. The designs also looks fairly flat due to the vectorised images and simple use of plain white. The introduction of simple shapes on the page was done to create a contrast, such as the hearts on the figures or the circle on the raven. Although this does create a more exciting difference it still can be seen as too 'easy' and doesn't look considered. These need work in order to be designs that reflect the principles I have learnt.

Use of the Marber Grid

The book designs needed to use the Marber grid but in an experimental way, for this reason I began by using the singular third at the bottom of the page. This worked fairly well, although it was harder to apply the entire grid to this layout, as some of the lines no longer connected. I decided to create a design that would work as a jacket, so it could wrap around hardcover books. To make this consistent the white strip on the design was carried around for these inner sections. 

Josef Albers believed that a three tone approach was enough to conjure a mood or association, as shown by his Homage to the Square. For this reason I decided to begin by using just three colours on each design, having image traced the painted designs. However by using image trace it has created quite a rough, 'cheap' effect. It is a common technique that perhaps should be used more sparingly, especially for designs that have a lot of components, like paintings. 

The type used for these designs also was not quite appropriate either. The designs for these books are quite contemporary and bright in colour, a serif typeface seems to clash in it's classic aesthetic. A sans serif typeface might have appeared more 'modern' and appropriate to the design. Beatrice Ward suggests if you notice typography you will never fully get the message it is delivering, which is true in some circumstances. Type needs to be something that is so perfect for the design work it doesn't distract or draw attention.

Finally the colour of these designs isn't consistent, they're not quite consistent and have no development or reasoning behind them. I hope to create another variation that has more consideration than those produced below.

Penguin Book Content

For the covers I needed to create a design that was reflective of the book but also a feeling or summery of how I personally found it.

Adrian Shaughnessy in 'Graphic Design: A User's Manual' suggests that it is possible that book cover designers can be considered visual critics; creating covers that reflect how they felt about the book- not retelling it. 

I decided to do a series all under the poetry theme, including:

• The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe
• Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas 
• Three Lives by Gertrude Stein

This meant that the covers needed to have a contemporary feeling that all shared a similar aesthetic. I began by reading extracts from the books and looking at summaries and reviews. I wanted to paint spontaneous and passionate imagery that could be placed in the rigid Marber grid layout. 

The pallets designers use are often black, white and one or two other colours. This is to create a strong and bold foundation for communication with a limited pallet. I wanted to use a simple set of three tones in the paintings- black, blue and yellow, to follow this approach. The choice being to link to the colours of a bruise and the pain that poets often communicate. Poetry is often something that can be exposing as well, it could be seen as revealing past wounds. I am a fan of poetry which is why I chose these books, it is often the case that a passion for the subject is reflected in design work.

The Raven. I wanted it to seem dark and enigmatic.

Under Milk Wood. This book's theme is all about the narrative,
I wanted the eyes to reflect a perception and scrutiny.

Three Lives. To show how three women's lives interlock,
despite the privilege of the author.

Penguin Black Classics

This is another example of a common Penguin layout which was produced by Facetti in the 60s, the man who employed Marber. These were know as "Black Classics", which have since been modernised in 2002 to add a white stripe, an orange logo and to consist of a more closely prescribed template. This layout maintains professionalism and a contemporary outlook- yet still appears timeless and elegant. By redesigning the layout it means there is more opportunity to change the aesthetic of each book. For example, this design appears classical and reminiscent of the 19th century, because of the large design space and minimalist additions which don't distract (allowing itself to be original, but still consistent with the collection.)

To celebrate Penguin's 80th anniversary they produced a set of 80 'Little Black Classics' which follow a similar design which follow this classic style. Whilst looking at this style I found that the elegant strips of text and specific format for each created a distinctive, organised appearance. But perhaps it would be better to experiment off the grid.

Marber Grid

In the 1940s Tschichold helped design more than 500 of the famous Penguin paperback books, these were purely typographic yet are still iconic. When Marber arrived on the scene there was little work with imagery for the book designs and there had been little change since Tschichold for 20 years.

By arranging the design so typographic information and the colophon (a publisher's emblem) within the top third of the page, he allowed for over two thirds of the cover to be used for illustration “effectively giving the cover artwork the space needed to capture a browser’s attention and sell the book.”

He developed a grid so that each design could follow a similar pattern and order. Each line is either evenly spaced between two lines or cuts through two intersecting lines. For my own designs I hope to follow this pattern. Instructions can be found here: http://ministryoftype.co.uk/words/article/constructing-the-grid

Romek Marber

Romek Marber is a key designer in the shaping of post war book design. He arrived in the Uk in 1946, after narrowly escaping German concentration camps. A decade later his Penguin Crime paperback covers changed the course of book design.

“To launch the new Crime series I was asked to do twenty titles,” the designer recalled in a talk given to the Penguin Collectors Society in 2007 (later published in the book, Penguin By Illustrators). “The month was June and the books had to be on display in October. The ‘grid’ and the rather dark visual images, suggestive of crime, had an immediate impact.”

After these new designs were produced, many designers began to find inspiration in the style. Facetti commissioned more designers to adopt the style, such as illustrator Paul Hogarth, shown in the design below.