Penguin Student Design Award 2019 Competition Brief - Final Outcome & Evaluation

The final outcome is a front, back and spine book cover design for 'Wonder' by RJ Palacio. One of the key events within the book is the start of going to secondary school, so the concept for the design plays on the idea of a classroom desk setting. The title design on the front and spine utilises an analogue process to create the variety of letters. Different materials that may be found in the classroom setting such as paint, pencils, pens, tape, crayons, oil pastels and etc were used to create the colourful and playful design.. The different materials, colours and letter styles represent the theme of community and friendship that is present within the book. Much like the characters in the story  that all have different appearances and personalities come together to form a community, so do the different styles of letters come together to form a visually rich composition. The authors name, slogan and some copy on the back cover were also created using an analogue process. The copy was hand-written in a scratched style that is reminiscent of children etching into their wooden classroom desks. The typeface used for the copy on the back cover is 'HVD Edding 780'. This typeface was chosen because of it's legibility and likeness to children hand-writing, so that the copy would be easy to understand and feel relatable for the young target audience. The illustrations on the back cover depict objects that may be found on a child's school classroom desk. The style of illustration is clean and minimal, this was done so that the target audience could easily identify those objects. The background colour chosen is white, this was done so that the colourful title on the front and spine, and the illustrations on the back could stand out and become the focus of the design. There is a variety of bright colours used across all sides of the design of the book cover. This was done to make the design a playful and fun atmosphere, and therefore make it eye-catching and enticing for the young target audience.

Evaluation

The design of the book cover for 'Wonder' by RJ Palacio I believe has been successful because of the strong concept and atypical analogue techniques utilised throughout the design process. The concept for design plays on the idea of a classroom desk setting, but does so in a more abstract and subtle way. I believe this has been successful because it not only acknowledges the storyline within the book, but also makes the cover relatable to the young target audience. The use of the white background allows for a playful use of colour that makes the design even more eye-catching and enticing for the target audience. For the title and some copy within the design I utilised analogue hand-written techniques, and experimented with a variety of different materials relating to the classroom desk concept. I believe this is what gives the design uniqueness and enriches the concept. The analogue process revealed not only the colour palette used throughout the design, but also inspired the direction the concept took that lead to the final outcome. To improve the design, I believe I could have explored the use of layout further. The back cover within this design contains the key elements that communicate the concept. Although it does this successfully, I believe if I had explored layout further and played around with those elements across the front cover also, the concept could have been even clearer. Nonetheless, I believe the design of the book cover has been successful because the concept highlights one of the key narratives within the story, the execution utilises interesting techniques, and the final outcome would be eye-catching and interesting for the young target audience.