Noughts and Crosses - Penguin Random House Brief

Brief: 'We are looking for a striking cover design that is well executed, has an imaginative concept and clearly places the book for its market. The cover should encourage children to pick up the book and buy it for themselves and should also engage adults to want to buy it for them.
While all elements of the cover (front, back and spine) need to work together, remember that the front cover has to be able to work on its own, and to be eye-catching within a crowded bookshop setting as well as on screen at a reduced size for digital retailers.'

The winning design will need to:

• have an imaginative concept
• be an original interpretation of the brief
• be competently executed with strong use of typography
• appeal to the broadest possible audience for the book
• show a good understanding of the marketplace
• have a point of difference from other books that it will be competing against in the market
• be able to sit on the shelves of a supermarket or ebook store as easily as it sits on those of more traditional bookshops

Personal Spec:

1. The concept needs to be unique, rather than playing to cliches. I especially want to avoid the use of 'noughts and crosses' as it is an obvious approach.
2. The typography needs to be incredibly considered and experimented with.
3. The book needs to appeal to an audience of children and adults. It needs to seem exciting but also mature enough that an adult could comfortably read it.
4. The book needs to fit amongst other books of the 'young adult' genre and pop against competition.
5. The cover needs to be approached sensitively. One of the key themes of the novel is race and although this should be explored on the cover, it shouldn't be 'over done'. Malorie Blackman has said herself that she wanted the race of characters to be an aspect, but not the definition of their personalities or actions.