introduction: annabel

Book cover design has always been changing and adapting until the recent development of E-reading devices.

Introduction

intro to penguin: pearl

The iconic Penguin book covers root back to 19th century. The evolution of Penguins cover design is paralleled with the evolution of the graphic design and illustration practices together.

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History

intro to penguin: pearl

Penguin cover layout analysis : george

The white stripe - Publication nameAuthor name Genre title

Boldini Ultra Bold & Gill Sans.

Penguin books-

Layout analysis

Penguin cover layout analysis : george

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Colour codes

Orange for fiction Green for crime

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Colour codes

Dark blue for biography Red for playsAnd cerise for travel and adven-

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Publishers

To give you a sense of scale in terms of how Penguins were received, 9 publishers formed the British Publishers’ Guild to resist the unstoppable and affordable Penguins books.

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Digital Books

In a digital form book covers no longer protects and binds the pages.Things like slipcases and dust jackets are now defunct.

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Childrens books

“ Good design is absolutely crucial. A book will only succeed if it looks really good. Children are such sophisticated judges and they are the first to reject a book because of its cover” - Francesca Dow, 2009.

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Childrens booksTV can also aid sales within this area, as children can become attached to the characters and stories on screen.

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Roald Dahl

Quentin Blake manages to bring each book to life through use of strong character design and his own distinct style.

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Roald Dahl

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Chick Flicks

Recently the ‘50 Shades of Grey’ series cover is being copied in hope of reflecting it’s success.

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Illustrator Feedback

“I think book jackets in the UK are pretty poor at the moment. They all feel so similar. A good jacket should grab your attention, arrest your eyes. Pull you in. Be something you’d like people to see you read on the underground. Not be like something else that sold well.” - Martin O’Neill

American designs tend to state the obvious and tell the story of what’s inside whereas UK covers tend to be more illusive and conceptual.

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Variations

With the Harry Potter series, the US and UK versions were illustrated by different artists. The American versions have a more childish and cartoonish style

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Harry Potter

- In the UK, versions with adult cover art were printed to increase the audience. The title of the first book was changed to ‘The Sorcerers Stone’ to the appeal to the US market.

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Harry Potter

There are no set rules, though the director usually has a rough idea of what they want. Sometimes you get a synopsis, instead of having to read the whole book as there might be little time.

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Commissioning

Between £400 - £1000 depending on the seller. (Paperbacks usually better paid than hardbacks.)

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Fees

“It’s not a case of summing up the book as I thought it would be but just making a cover that’s going to sell the book - those two things are quite different” - Andy Smith.

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Andy Smith

It shows a departure from the original Penguin cover design and is a prime example of how penguin is evolving with illustration practice.This is echoed in the combination of the classical literature of Jane Eyre with the contemporary use of colour, design and printing techniques.

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Jessica Hische

“I don’t think you should be thinking of doing sole-ly book covers, it would be pretty impossible to try and make a living off just that” - Chris Martin

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illustrators

Work of Chip Kidd (Above, top) and Matthew Richardson (Above)

We conducted a questionnaire about the appeal of book jackets. Results showed that the majority of people preferred hand rendered type. This reflects the current trend of including this within both the adult and children’s market.

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Questionnaire

Where will we see books in the future? Viewing a book cover in a shop is different from on an electronic device

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The future

Some Publishers are already responding to the change. Domino is taking into account the new formats of reading. - They have a distinctive image focused design and the usual information like titles and author names are often not incorporated.

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The future

“If the physical book, as we’ve come to call it, is to resist the challenge of the e-book, it has to look like something worth buying, and something worth keeping” – Julian Barnes.

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The future