Norwegian Wood Template Developments - Penguin Books - Competition Brief

After I made design developments, I began template designs, particularly focusing on the back cover. I trialed a white cover to create a contemporary and modern style of design. However, this felt too simplistic, whilst the red appears to grab the reader's attention. The white almost felt too innocent considering the themes of the book. Another con with a white book is that it dirt and grime will show up on it easily - so is often avoided.

I laid out the text in a simple way considering how to make the quotes stand out against the blurb. I placed them in italics with the sources written in bold and in a different colour. I decided not to go overboard with the text layout as often the most successful covers are the simple, legible designs

In terms of the illustration accompanied on the back, I wanted to create something which would explain a little bit more about the cover without giving too much away. I first created a drawing a man reaching out for the firefly as it flies away - this worked alright as a concept but as an illustration felt inconsistent with the cover. I then looked at showing a cage on the back of the novel being broken open as if the firefly has freed itself - which links to the ending of the story. It is simple but adds a little more context to the front cover design, but does not need to be seen.

I then looked at how I could change the spine of the design to make it flow with the composition and look interesting on a bookshelf. The red felt consistent but also boring next to the front and back. The black spine didn't entirely work with the red colour which I also wanted to include on the spine. The white seemed to work best - it wasn't overwhelming and it hints at the lighter themes of the book - it is not entirely serious. It also means that the hints of black are not overshadowed and are able to stand out on the spread.