Assignment two: Jacket design
This assignment will allow you to put into practice what you have learnt in all the projects and exercises you have done so far, in particular your ability to work through the design process and undertake creative problem-solving in relation to a set brief.
The brief
Create jacket artwork for the Beat generation classic, On the Road by Jack Kerouac. The
publishers, Viking Press, have decided to re-release this title in hardback form, and want a new
jacket design to reflect the beatnik and avant-garde nature of this classic novel.
Requirements
Your design will need to include front, back, spine and flaps. You’ll need to source images, either from Bridgeman Art Libarary, Oxford Art Online, or create your own original imagery – illustration, photography or artwork. Base the dimensions of your jacket on a size of book that you have available to you. You’ll need to produce three different design versions and eachwill need to be mocked-up on a hardback book and photographed. Work through the design process, documenting it in your learning log as you go:
• Ideas generation
Read the brief, identifying keywords. Generate thumbnail sketches to document and explore
your thinking process.
• Research and develop ideas
Identify the research you need to undertake. This will include researching existing versions of
this cover, and others of the same genre. This brief requires some lateral thinking; develop
ideas that are unexpected, as well as the obvious.
• Present visual outcomes
Lay out the jacket using DTP software and incorporating text and image(s). Design three
versions of the jacket. Print the jacket designs and make a mock-up of the jacket onto an
existing hardback book. Photograph the book jackets as your final outcome to the project
Before started working on this assignment I had read the book. Because I think it’s almost impossiple to create a good cover for a book you haven’t read. My book looks like this. It’s an inexpensive paperback book.
Ideas generation
Research
Jack Kerouac’s novel On the Road has been published thousands of times. Here’s a selection of On The Road book covers from all around the world.
I especially like these covers
But there are also a few covers with unsuccessful design in my list. For example, this this one. I think “Killer on the road” would be a more suitable title” for this cover. It looks pretty frightening.
http://mymojave.tumblr.com/
Eizin Suzuki RomancingAmerica
Sketches for second cover
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Categories: assignments, Book Design