Exercise: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

The Jules Verne classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea has undergone many different design treatments. Write some illustrated notes about the visual impact of each of these four designs.

If you walked into a bookshop with no idea what the book was about, what impression would each of these covers give you? Which cover would be most likely to make you pick up the book, and why?

Check the date of each image and try to speculate about the historical, political or social context for each one. 

What approach would you take to the cover design if you were asked to design a new edition today? Make some thumbnail sketches. You don’t have to work these up into a more finished design – unless you want to!

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