OUGD503 - Responsive - Penguin Book Cover - Children's Design

Brief

Design a book cover for The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole which will bring this much - loved classic to a new generation of readers. Create a design that ensures this original and hilariously funny book remains a must-read for every child.

Research 

Books that the target audience read

For the research part of this brief, I first read the Secret Diary of Adrian Mole to gain a good understanding of the tone of the book and to get to grips with Adrian’s character.

I then looked into other books currently on the market that are aimed at the target demographic to see what looks effective and what is popular, as well as looking at the previous cover designs for the book.

By conducting this research I was able to start coming up with different designs that would engage the target audience.

Development 

I then made a list of key objects that were in the book that I could potentially base the cover on.

Initial Designs and Ideas

Development 

The idea I took forward kept the tone of the cover classic and iconic while giving it a more modern and rebellious twist. 

It was inspired by a series of diary entries where Adrian is painting over the Noddy wallpaper in his bedroom with a tin of black vinyl paint which he acquired from his friend. It did not turn out well. 

The notion of being embarrassed by your childhood bedroom wallpaper is a feeling that many of the books readers will be able to relate to, and resonates with all young people making the transition into adolescence.

Not only is it an iconic moment of the book, but it creates a visually engaging front cover, whilst simultaneously creating a sense of ambiguity for people who have not yet read the story.

Artistic Styles

I made a Pinterest Board which collated a range of artists whose work I felt wold be appropriate for a bold and eye-catching children's book cover designs. Here are just a few examples: 

Marie Assénat

Mariana Rio

Marco Oggian

Arata Kubota

The use of a limited colour palette and primary colours in many of these designs created simple, bright and eyecatching illustrations that would appeal to both a male and female demographic.

Solution 

The solution I went for offers a bold and iconic front cover that perfectly captures both the embarrassing and rebellious moments associated with being a teenager.

It is also different to the previous designs of the book’s front cover as it doesn’t make any visual references to the book being a diary.

The idea created a good opportunity to use mixed media in the design and explore a range of styles. As noddy is a well known character I had to be sure to redesign him in my own style to avoid plagiarism and to make the design appealing to teenagers, as noddy is predominantly a character aimed at children aged 2 - 6 yrs.

Visual Style 

In terms of style I wanted to step away from the computer and use a more hand-rendered approach featuring a range of textures and strokes that can only be achieved by drawing, sketching and experimenting. This technique would also make the book stand out against many of it’s competitors.

The drawings of Noddy themselves were inspired by the original vintage Enid Blyton books in which he first appeared. Varying the line widths and sizes of my brush strokes created a more modern and abstract version of the character, bringing the design up to date with current trends.

Hand rendered typography was also an important feature of the cover as I wanted to get across the rebellious emotion of painting over the wallpaper, as if Adrian had written it himself in a moment of exasperation.

A range of paintings, drawings and sketches were all combined in the final design of the cover. 

Development

When I was happy with the composition of the over I took it to a crit for feedback which provided some fresh new perspective. 

These are the questions I asked:

Q) Should I hand write the back cover and the blurb or use a font that looks handwritten?

A) Use a font that looks handwritten as 'you have a handwritten font on the front', 'It might end up looking messy if it was handwritten', 'The typeface you've used (a font) looks like  children's book, friendly and like a diary' 'This typeface is readable and fits in with the concept' 'handwritten type for body text can be problematic'. 

Q) Should I do a similar thing to the front with the scribble and have writing inside for the back or is the torn out page more appropriate?

A) Torn out page. 'Definitely more appropriate and more legible when reading the small text', 'torn out page but needs to create more of a contrast like the scribble on the front'. 'Looks like a torn out page of a diary'. 'Leave it as a torn out page because it breaks up the design and doesn't distract you from the cover. 'The page is better because it still links with the theme and makes the design more interesting.' 'I like that the front and back are different as it makes them effective in their own right' 'I think it works really well, stands out and grabs my attention'. 

Q) Any other suggestions?

A) Rather than a scribble add a few more ink splats to the back of the design' 'Add some doodles and spelling mistakes' 

I took the suggestions on board and came back with the design below. In a final crit there were yet more suggestions which I wrote on the mock up to edit. 

Final Design

I made it more textured to look like old wallpaper and made the Noddies lighter. I also added in a spelling mistake to the diary entry on the back. To look more like wallpaper I made the Noddy on the back the same size as the ones on the front.

The final design effectively ties in all the different elements of hand-rendered type, modern drawings with rough edges and energetic paint splats, conveying Adrian’s frustration.

I also tried to get across some of Adrian’s personality through him circling Tom Sharpe’s name as if he’s doing research on how to be an intellectual.

The design effectively communicates the tone of the book, aswell as Adrian’s personality and resonates as much with today’s audience as the book did when it was first released.