The Establishment Research into Previous Winners - Penguin Books - Competition Brief

2018 Winners: A Brief History of Time

1st Place - Explanation of Work

'I wanted to create something that would stand out from existing designs, and which reflected how groundbreaking Hawking’s work was. I produced several concepts but this to me captured the essence of the book – distilling an incredibly complex and multilayered subject into something elegant and simple, whilst still being challenging and unconventional. I took inspiration from different theories, including colour shift, multiple dimensions and the expanding universe, and tried to communicate these purely through colour and type – there was something almost poetic to me about using those fundamental building blocks of design to illustrate a subject which explores, essentially, the building blocks of the universe.'

The first place entry of last years competition was very experimental, the design is complex and multilayered and probably stood against many other entries. I however, don't like this entry so much, I find it more a piece of art than informative communication of the book's content. I believe it is incredibly difficult to read and appears more like a fiction novel than a non-fiction, because of its bright colours and playful layout. In some respects I do think this would attract a much younger audience than the demographic which will have been reading this previously. It is something very loud, vibrant and experimental, which tells me that the Penguin judges are looking for designs which break normal convention. It is clear that the designer has researched the novel and has communicated something which only a reader of the novel would understand - this is something which many book covers tend to adopt.

Harry Woodgate, University of Hertfordshire,

2nd Place - Explanation of Work

'The content of the book heavily inspired my design for the cover of A Brief History of Time. I have taken influence from quarks, light interference and black holes to create a graphic that aims to capture the depth and thought-provoking nature of Hawking’s work. The outermost discs are intended to portray light spectrums and interference around a black hole while the innermost disc containing solid black symbolizes the black hole itself.'

I think this design is far more effective in its approach. It strikes a balence between appealing a younger, more contemporary audience, whilst also maintaining an intellectual and serious audience. The symbolic center is bold and bright, it immediately draws the attention since the text has been coloured grey. I hope to create something similarly contemporary. Although since 'The Establishment' as a political book rather than a scientific one, the aesthetic will probably be quite different.

Cameron Edwardson, Coventry University

 2015 Winner: Freakonomics

1st Place

This cover design shows a more simplistic illustrative approach.The yellow colour works well with the black to create something bold and striking. It is playful in the way it is drawn and executed but the actual concept is quite basic and explanatory. This works for the content as the book attempts to explain basic economic concepts in simplistic terms and by having a nicely drawn bar chart it really conveys this. If the design was more ambigious it may lead the viewer to be put off, thinking 'I don't understand this so I won't understand the content' whereas in actuality it needs to attract those who are less versed in economics. The same is true with 'The Establishment', it is aimed at average people who have a basic understanding of politics, so the cover should not be portraying a difficult or off-putting concept.

Scott Kooken, University of Northampton