Penguin Book Covers - Refining Layout

Layout

For the final layout the whole grid was moved down so that there was a central horizontal band. This allowed for multiple symbols to be placed on the sleeves creating balance above and below the central ban. The symbols were also reduced in opacity making them much subtler and allowing more of the image to come through, making the images the most dominant element on the sleeves. Using a horizontal line across the black bands better defined this area, emphasising the book information and making it contrast further when compared with the background imagery. Placing the text so that it was directly ontop of the line creates the impression that they have become part of one another.

The back page reflected the front cover imagery creating cohesiveness across the sleeve. Placing the blurb onto a black area also mirrored the use of a black band on the front of the cover.

The back of the sleeve was created to become a collectable poster using the imagery from the book sleeve. The timeline was placed above and below the image and was designed to fold backwards and out of sight when the poster was in use. The fold lines for the timeline correspond with the fold lines of the section of the book sleeve that would wrap inside the first book page.

However when printed it was found that the text for both the blurb and timeline were hard to read and looked broken when white on black. Because of this for the final designs the spine, front band, blurb box and timeline bands were all change to white with black text ontop. This allowed for clarity at smaller text sizes whilst still contrasting against the background imagery.