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Design change: I decided to change the design of this illustration from a hand holding onto the tear to two hands cupping it. I feel like this imagery shows more about the book and the hands are almost caring for the tear, looking after it and protecting it, something we as humans do to other when we see them crying.

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After finishing my designs and looking at them as finalised cover designs I decided that I didn’t feel like the layout of them being just in the front was particularly eye-catching and started to explore what they would look like if the illustration was spread across the back and front of the book. I expanded the drawings so that on either spine there was a key image, I feel like this will look amazing once all three spines are next to one another. For the first one I used the image of the women on the spine as the book itself it about feminism, the second image is of a leaf as the book revolves around nature and the third image is one of a tear, highlighting the ‘crying’ part of the book title.

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- scientist
- creation
- perfect
- creature
-rejection
- monster
-revenge
-death
-family

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- gender roles
- views
- womanhood
-time travel
- perspective

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- blinded
- meteor shower
- post apocalyptic
- slave labour
- hostages

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- race
- beauty
- feminism
- poetry
- complexities that black women face

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- human behaviour (crying)
- politics
- feminism
- race
- intimate story
- motherhood

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- Frankenstein
- The female man
- The day of the triffids

- There are more beautiful things than Beyoncé
- A thousand mornings
- The crying book

- the poetics of space
- on photography
- the beauty of everyday things

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- blinded
- meteor shower
-

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- nostalgia
- home
- daily experiences
- humour
- kindness

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- lyrical journey
- domestic places
- personal thoughts
- poetry
- intimacy

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- lyrical journey
- domestic places
- personal thoughts
- poetry
- intimacy

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- morals
- photography
- aesthetic issues
- relationships
- nostalgia
- identity
- senses of reality

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- objects
- companionship
- care
- beauty
- relationships

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Today I decided to go into Waterstones in order to reflect and research what it is that attracts people to certain books. Upon my first entrance into the store I immediately noticed that there were people of all ages, kids with their parents, an elderly couple sat together in the corner as well as lots of students. I began thinking about what kind of audience my chosen books would attract, with it being poetry, I feel that many different people from different backgrounds, ages, ethnicities would all hold an interest in the books.
I walked around the store, glancing at different books until I found one that grabbed my attention. I found a navy blue book that grabbed my attention due to the fact that the spine was made out of fabric rather than paper. I realised then how important the spine of a book is as it’s the initial thing that catches your eye when choosing a book to read or buy. The navy blue fabric contrasted with gold, bold writing spelling out ‘The flower shop’. The font was easy to read which for me instantly felt like it would be an easy, enjoyable read.
A lot of the books in the store had bright covers with photography or just typography on the front. As graphic designer I’m particularly interested in illustration and therefore feel like this is the path I’m going to take for this project. Through some online research I found that many older books as well as children’s books are the ones that are more likely to have illustration involved on the cover. Knowing this I headed over to the children’s section to investigate what illustrations were on the books although it isn’t part of the same genre of books that I will be creating a book cover for. I found this really helpful in influencing some of my ideas for this project as I realised that many of the books that have illustration, also have some on the inside cover, spine or back-page, important elements to take into consideration when thinking about this project.

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Since childhood my sister, Gemma, has been an avid bookworm. She began reading long novels at a young age and would finish them within a day or two. Alongside this, she also is very interested in poetry and has previously won poetry writing competitions. I therefore feel like she would a perfect candidate to interview to get an insight into what she finds interesting when reading and selecting books.

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‘There is not subject so old that something new cannot be said about it’

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A book cover can reflect many different aspects such as a souvenir, a frame and a translation. I particularly think that the cover of a book is important in highlighting why the book would be memorable in order to entice the target audience into picking it up. As part of my research I’ve decided to pick a few of my favourite book covers and un-pick them in order to figure out what it is that attracts me to them as a graphic designer and to reflect on if there’s anything that I could be influenced by within my own work for this project.

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Why are books so important to you and how do you feel like they affect you as a reader?

Books are important to me because they’ve been a constant home. Like, when y9u find a book you love, that makes you feel all sad, and buttery and hugged, it will always be there for you. It will tuck you into bed at night, let you know that you’re not alone. Characters become your friends and worlds become your home. There is nothing else quite like it.

What do you look for when choosing a book in a store?

When I’m shopping for books I rally have to take my time. I always feel like I need to look at every book, read every blurb, give them all a fair chance in a way, though obviously that’s pretty impossible. That why, and I think a lot of book lovers don’t want to admit this, but cover designs are really important. They need to be eye-catching but not tacky. They should be intriguing, maybe tell you a little bit about the story. They should make you excited to pick up the book and read what’s on the back!

How important is the cover of a book to you & Do you like book covers that are bright and busy or simple and striped back?

When I’m shopping for books I really have to take my time. I always feel like I need to look at every book, read every blurb, give them all a fair chance in a way, though obviously that’s pretty impossible. That’s why, and I think a lot of book lovers don’t want to admit this, but cover designs are really important. They need to be eye catching, but not tacky. They should be intriguing, maybe tell you a little bit about the story. They should make you excited to pick up the book and read what’s on the back!

It depends on the book I think. One of my favourite cover designs are the Waterstones classics collection, which are pretty simplistic. This works for them though because they’re all classic books, names we’ve heard hundreds of times. The story sells itself, so the cover doesn’t need to be bright and flashy, but at the same time the colours and illustrations do a great job of highlighting a key part of the story. Sometimes, however, if it’s a story I haven’t heard of, a busier cover may draw my attention more than a simpler one.

What is your favourite book cover and why does it stand out to you?

I really love the cover of More Than This by Patrick Ness. The little yellow rectangle inside the door was actually cut out from the book, which I thought was really cool and unique, and the cover really sums up the story well but in such a way that you only really truly understand it after having read the book. The contrast of the yellow and black and white also really makes it stand out on bookshelves. It also helps that it’s one of my favourite books!

Also special shout-out to the Percy Jackson series, as I only just found out the other day that all of the covers actually connect to make one big scene, which I think is really smart.

When you see a set of books, do you feel inclined to buy them all or just one?

I don’t usually buy sets of books for myself, because I get worried that I won’t like the first book and then won’t want to read the rest. However, I think sets of books are perfect gifts, especially if they look beautiful!

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I really wanted to explore and research older books and thought the best place to find some would be in a charity store as everything is second hand and therefore less likely to be brand new.
I found a book named ‘The saga of Asgard’ that I decided to flick through. The book itself was clearly very old as the pages had yellowed and it was very fragile. The corners of the pages were flimsy, reflecting all the hands that had turned the pages. This really interested me and made me feel invested in reading the book as so many people before me had clearly enjoyed it. The cover itself was another part of the book that I felt connected with. The blue and yellow toned background made the black sketchy illustration stand out. In the background there was a faint pattern which looked almost like it could be a child’s drawing where as the sketch below it clearly had been done by someone with artistic talent. I really like the contrast of the two images and feel like although they are very different, they end up complimenting each other.
After researching the book online I found that it was released in 1960 and is a book of poems and tales and therefore though it fit to have a glance at some of the pages. On a few of the pages, a few words were highlighted and notes were written around the text; although some people may find this ruins the book, I feel like it bring even more life into it and mirrors the history the book has been through.

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When I was looking at books in the charity shop I decided to try find some book sets to give me some initial ideas on how other artists have made books link to one another.
First I found three red books and before even reading the titles I knew they were part of a set. Although the books were just dictionary’s I felt inspired by how eye catching they were on the shelf, the bright red colour instantly made them stand out and the way they all carry the same font, colour palette and style made is very obvious that they are supposed to be bought as a set of three.
Another set of books I found is the very popular ‘fifty shades of grey’ series. I really like the way these three book covers link to one another through a similar style of photography. The blue and grey colour pallete indicates that the books may be slightly risky and dark and the imagery also helps to highlight this. I like how the title and authors name doesn’t stay in the same position of the book in each cover as I feel this adds a bit of dimension instead of all the books being in an identical format.

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Alice in wonderland book cover comparison 

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Alice in wonderland book cover comparison 

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As ‘Alice in wonderland’ is a very popular, renown story, there are many different book covers for it. This story means a lot to me as it was favourite childhood book so I found it very interesting to look into how different artists approached making a cover for it.
As it’s a child’s book there are many versions of detailed, illustrated covers, a art form that I’m personally very drawn to. The first cover I’ve chosen is full of colour and bright fonts which is perfect for the target audience which for this book tends to be young children. This made me think about how important it is to appeal to the certain audience of the book genre and got me thinking about how i’m going to do this for the poetry books I’ve chosen for my project.

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‘The book of tears’ is about why people cry, talk about many different people instead of one group.

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‘The book of tears’ is about why people cry, talk about many different people instead of one group.

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I wanted this to be clear on the cover of the book so used a repeated image of a hand holding a tear. I adapted this by making the hands a different colour but then decided I wanted to do Lino print. I then changed it to have a hand holding a tear, I really like how the hand ended up being monochromatic as I feel like this shows that it could belong to anyone.

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For this book I wanted to illustrate the hardships of being a black women as that’s a key idea the book highlights

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For this book I wanted to illustrate the hardships of being a black women as that’s a key idea the book highlights

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For this book I wanted to illustrate the hardships of being a black women as that’s a key idea the book highlights. I explored having a repeated Image of the outline of a black women but decided this didn’t have enough strength or reflect that the book talks about the issues surrounding racism. I explored this further by again us using the outline of a black women but putting it in the middle of a person opening their chest. I feel like this better portrays what the book is highlighting as the image appears aggressive and as though the chest is an open wound where the women is standing, indicating emotional and physical struggle.

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Over my weekend I decided to use my free time by venturing into Stockport to find a vintage book store my mother had told me about. I wanted to go here in order to compare the differences between old books and newer books and to evaluate what interests most when it comes to creating a gripping cover.
I absolutely loved being in this bookstore due to the wide variety and range of books, from old hand written novels to child’s books, the store had it all.
A lot of the books had illustrations along the spine, something that newer books seem to have less of. Many of the newer books in Waterstones had photography rather than illustration whereas many of the vintage books had detailed, beautiful picture illustrations all over the cover and spine.
As I’m doing poetry books I feel an illustration may reflect my own interpretation of the books I’ve chosen rather than me having to create how it makes me feel in an image.

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I’ve found that many old books have the writing embossed into the spine, personally I really like this technique as I feel like it is very eye catching and makes a book look expensive. I also like it because I feel like it makes it feel authentic and that not only the inside written by hand but the outside made by hand too.
I like the cover of the book above, ‘how it works and how it’s don’t’ because of how little information the spine gives away about the book, encouraging you to pick it up and read the back. I also like how the colour of the embossed part is the same to the binding, bringing all the spine together to work in harmony.

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My idea behind this poster was to illustrate the issues with fast fashion within our society. I am an avid promoter for using second hand clothes rather than constantly buying new from un-sustainable brands.
I have recently discovered a brand that uses materials found in trees to create clothes sustainably and therefore decided to create a poster for their business.
Unfortunately, as I just got my I-pad, I only have paint so therefore was quite limited in what I could create. Although this restricted me, it also seemed to create a style to my work, making both posters look similar and the artwork clear. The type in the background ‘Clothes could grow on trees’ is a play on the quote ‘money doesn’t grow on trees’, something that is ingrained into our minds from a young age. I feel this quote holds just as much importance and is also quite memorable and catchy so therefore feel it fits well into the idea of the poster.
I decided to use shoes for the plants to grow out of as an underlying message of ‘carbon footprints’.

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I really like this Lino-print due to the sketchy lines and how the entire thing is made up of one line, with them all joining to create the image. I really admire how the artist has created the image out of simple shapes and lines, highlighting areas with shading.

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I personally much prefer holding a book compared to reading off an electronic device. The initial thrill of searching for the book in a bookshop, feeling the crisp pages and smelling the ink off the pages is, for me, a big part of the process of choosing a book.
Through doing some research I realised I’m not the only one who feels this way, with physical books still being more popular than e-books.
I was gifted a kindle when I was about 10 years old which I would often take on holidays due to saving space. Although they are more convenient as they can hold hundreds of books, I feel they lack the satisfaction that a paperback holds.
When reading books I feel the font size is very important and this is one of the reasons I will sometimes switch to a kindle when reading. I think it’s important to consider who your audience is as if it’s directed to a more older group of people then the font size must be considered in order to avoid eye-strain and general discomfort where on a kindle you’re able to manually change the size and zoom in and out.

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As I’m interested in doing Lino printing for my cover work, I want to explore what the best colour palette would be. I want my book to stand out on the shelf and feel I could do this more successfully if I were to use bright colours. Although I want the cover to be coloured, I’d ideally like to stick to a monochromatic pallete as not to make the book seem too ‘busy’. Poetry is simple and beautiful and these are two things I’d really like to encooperate into my work. Through my research I’ve found I really like when a cover has one bright bold colour and another lighter more neutral colour as I feel like they both compliment one another without being too over-powering.

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This was the poster I decided to create for the idea of producing a piece that is based off who I am as a graphic designer.
Within my art I want to explore  and experiment with different materials and ways of working as I often feel my work is quite ‘safe’ and In my comfort zone. The idea behind this piece was to use the imagery of dice as they are an image that people relate to chance and luck. I then decided to add a quote and create my own typeface. I like the way I edited the type to have all the lines joining up as I feel like it really ties the work together.

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I absolutely love these vintage storybooks, the bright reds and worn away spines bring me comfort and make me want to sit down and read them.

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I love the bright children’s illustrations on these books. The details really catch my eye.

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For the illustration of the book ‘A thousand mornings’ I wanted to draw something that gave people a sense of nostalgia. I began by asking some of my peers what reminds them of home. Here are the list of answers I received:

my dogs

A cup of tea

A roast

Clean laundry

A fire

My mum

The sound of the radio

I then thought about what reminds me of home and came to the conclusion that the thing that reminds me most of home is watching my mother hang up laundry in the garden. I’ve decided to use this theme to create my illustration, having hands holding a washing line. I feel like this would bring a sense of nostalgia to a lot of people as it’s something that is done universally and usually at ones house.

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After sketching up my final designs, I started considering the placement of the text. As one of the titles is very long I feel like the location of it is key, whether that is the size, format or place on the book.
The illustration is the key part of the cover and the thing I want most of the focus to be on so therefore I’m considering removing the text from the from page all together and placing it on the spine only. I feel like this will encourage people to take a longer look at the print rather than being distracted by what the words say. I feel like the images illustrate the title well enough for it not to be necessary to have them on the front as well as the spine.

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For the blurb I’m considering using a pull out flap attached to the front cover rather than put it on the beck cover. I want to do this because I think it would continue to the push importance of the illustration. As it is a poetry book I feel like I can explore the artistic license that surrounds this genre, focusing on explaining the storyline through the Lino prints.

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I’m considering using imagery on the spine with the outlines of the detailed front prints. I feel like this would make the books stand out on the page especially if I use a colour for them as the rest of the book I’m intending to be in black and white ink.