Norwegian Wood Evaluation - Penguin Books - Competition Brief

In evaluation, I believe this design meets the brief requirements. It is vivid, experimental and imaginative. The simplistic and meaningful imagery should appeal to a contemporary and literary readership as the brief suggests. I have considered that the meaning behind the design may actually be too ambiguous for most readers. The concept of Nako being imprisoned in her own mind may only be something that keen readers decipher. However, the illustration, colours used and symbolism all work together to form a strong visual rhetoric - eluding to the stories themes and contemporary nature. I have carefully referenced previous penguin awards to make sure the design fits with what Penguin are usually interested in. As a result the design is simple, with a central symbol, the blurb is clear and allows the content to stand alone. Another issue I considered was that the design is a little similar to the previous Norwegian Wood cover, with a similar typeface and colour pallet. However, this design uses an entirely different style and layout. The colour pallet and typeface are highly researched and applicable to the story, I believed they would work best for the concept and aesthetic I was trying to achieve. I also think having a white spine really balances the design, it frames the red colour nicely and indicates some of the more innocent themes of the book. It is a story that talks about life and death so calmly I wanted the cover to be similarly calm and easily viewed.