book design intro

Today - following the hugely accomplished Becky Chilcott's lecture in book design - I'm brainstorming some ways in which book covers are produced. I chose Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge: I'm currently reading it because it's on the GCSE syllabus (and I'm a tutor so it's my job). I also chose it because the covers are very, very similar. See below:

I did A level art, I hope you can tell from this moodboard.

I noticed that the current range of covers are pretty formulaic, and usually based around a bridge and some graphic text. Because Arthur Miller has become such a well-known name in theatre, I was surprised that his name wasn't featured more prominently on the range of covers I focussed on.

I created a moodboard from a range of the different covers, and also from marketing posters for the theatre shows. It is also clear that the design concept for the majority of existing covers has revolved around a male-focussed character base. It is also possibly marketed toward a more traditional, older literary fiction audience because of the sepia / black and white tones and the simplistic photographic style. If the book was to engage a younger (GCSE) audience, it could increase sales and modernise the image of the title. Adapting the cover to make it have a more inclusive and gender-neutral appeal would also be of importance, in order to include as many new readers as possible.

Becky talked us through a number of important book cover features:

- Price
- Barcode
- Publishing Branding
- Cover Image (illustration, photography?)
- ISBN (international standard book number)
- Illustrator credit
- Strapline
- Author Name
- Book title (obv)

which is an awful lot of stuff to fit onto that small piece of card.

My concept for the design of A View from the Bridge after reading the play centralises on Catherine, the protagonist's niece. Not as a stark contrast to the existing formulae of book covers for this author and genre, but because Catherine's transition into womanhood is arguably the situation that brings the tragic hero's hamartia about. Catherine is also a catalyst for most of the violence and more serious themes in the play (fist fighting, deportation). While she unwittingly moves the story on, her depiction is notably uncomplicated, and she plays into a lot of stereotypes. I believe this makes her ideal for modern literary critique, and it is one of the central reasons why the book is on the GCSE syllabus.

I found this illustration on yorknotes.com that fittingly describes the cast of the play, and I would like to use an illustrative style similar to this in my cover. It is a move away from the traditional photographic style - popular with play texts. It is also a way of depicting the characters physically in a way that the play can, but written script cannot itself provide to the reader. I also like the subtle inferrences of time period. I feel that the historical context of the play is of great significance to the reading and interpretation of the text, and should be referenced on the cover (through type, dress or tones).

thank you yorknotes.com!

In future 'judging a book by its cover' posts, I'll be analysing different covers from a range of genres, offering suggestions as to how the cover could be improved, what technical features the cover displays, how effective the art style is and how marketable the cover is.