Breakfast at Tiffany's Cover

Breakfast at Tiffany's Spine

Breakfast at Tiffany's Back Cover

Waterstone's Colour Research

Illustration inspiration

My final outcome for the breakfast at tiffany’s wrap around cover is simplistic and follows the Marber grid to be able to give the look of a penguin classic book, this means the design no matter what the image tells the audience its part of the penguin collection. The illustration itself was changed to the scene in which Audrey Hepburn is starring in the window of Tiffany’s. The change in which scene I used allowed me to be able to create a simpler cover. I have used Helvetica as the font for all of the designs I have created, due to its lack of personality and commercial use I think it works well as part of the cover; it doesn’t distract the audience away from the cover and the content of the book. By using Helvetica it also makes a statement towards the book being a classic, I didn’t want to patronise the integrity of the story by making the cover complex and use different calligraphic typography. The use of a neutral pastel colour in keeps with modern design trends and also contrasts against other book covers in stores at the moment. When in a local book store I investigated this, majority of the books consist of black and white or red covers, meaning the pastel calm colours would contrast against them bringing the attention of the audience.

A streetcar named desire, cover

A streetcar named desire, spine

A streetcar named desire, back cover

Blanche Dubois, Hairbrush scene

My final outcome for a streetcar named desire cover has come from a scene in the story where the main character, Blanche Dubois, is brushing her hair although she appears broken down and exhausted. This is a scene famous in the film, for showing the audience exactly how the character is feeling, by illustrating this it tells the audience of the book a key part of the story, although without knowing the storyline the audience won’t understand the reasoning behind it. The style of the illustration is the same as the previous, as is the colour scheme, this book is a green pastel rather than blue. Although the visuals are different due to the similar colour schemes it is evident that it is part of the series; this is reaffirmed by the use of the same gridding method and aesthetic style.

Illustration Inspiration

The Great Gatsby, cover

The Great Gatsby, spine

The Great Gatsby, back cover

My final outcome for The Great Gatsby, once again is inspired by a key scene from the movie, which is instantly recognisable to anyone who knows the storyline of the book, yet without said knowledge it once again would not make sense. The cover becomes part of the series due to its colour scheme, the colour chosen here is in between the other two hues in the series; meaning when they are presented together the collection gives a gradient effect this is something that is also unique in comparison to other books found on the shelf in my research. The grid system is also consistent on the back of the books. As can be seen above the barcode, blurb and other content on the back is all presented in the same way, giving further consistency to the series.

Overall I think the collection has been successful in terms of bringing together the classic previous design and the new design style. The colours are both representative of the classic nature of the books being sophisticated and muted, alongside the trend for pastels at the moment which will make them more interesting to a new audience; which will be more visible on the shelf as it contrasts against the other books on sale within the same section currently. The fact that the colours act as a gradient when placed alongside each other further consolidates this. The typeface is appropriate for the media and content to be presented in the way that suits the format.

If I were to change and develop the designs I would create more, playing on the idea of this gradient of the book covers. I would also develop the illustrations more giving me the opportunity to develop them into a more sophisticated polished outcome, whilst still retaining an abstract feel. This could be done through experimenting with illustrator drawings and messing around with colours.