Penguin Competition: May 2014

Final Design

Overall I am happy with this final design. Out of the two covers I designed, this one wins. It is full of symbols that run throughout the book. I think it will appeal to contemporary readers and would stand out in a bookshop setting.

Development

To develop this design, I wanted to add a background as I felt the cover had no depth or texture. I decided on a concrete texture to symbolise the hardness of the Winshaws.

I think this still lacks a bit of depth, so I've taken a duplicate of Britain and added it into the background.

Now for the final stages of development.

I have added a slight bit of colour to give some interest. Edited the blurb and quotes so they look more considered and also added a splatter of blood to the pig's mouth to symbolise the blood shed in the book.

Ideas 3

There are 2 images I have in mind for this design. The first is a pig and the second is a collage of images taken from 1980's newspapers/reports on the political and social environment the Winshaw's contributed to.

Firstly.....
Looking back at my initial thought process, I picked out the word greed. Greed is often a word associated with pigs. I have found a vintage image of a pig wearing a crown that I thought would be perfect to represent the Winshaws.

The first change I made to the pig is the name on the crown. From 'REX BRANDS' to 'WINSHAW'

I like this already!

I wanted to see how this would look on the book cover before I went any further.

I have used a label typeface for the title and author. I chose this font because, throughout the book we label the Winshaws as they label the Great British public. I'm liking this, though more consideration is needed for the blurb and quotes on the back. This will come in with the finishing touches.

Secondly.....

I picked more photographs from the 80's era that show the state the country was in. Here are a selection.

In a collage..

Just to reiterate that this happened in Britain, I took the collage and pasted it into an outline of the British Isles.

Now to see what this looks like on the design...

So far so good. I have positioned the people in Great Britain as though they are looking up at the 'Greedy Winshaw Pig'.

I like this, but it needs further development.

Putting it together

This is what the final cover design came out like. I framed the pictures to make it look as if the Winshaws are proud of their achievement's - even knowing the consequences they have.

A close up shows blood splatter on each of the photo's. This suggests the bloodshed that concludes the book.

The typeface used is an old typewriter font - to link in with Michael Owen, the biographer.

While I like this cover design, it gave me another idea for a different style. I am going to try the next idea and decide between these 2.

Ideas 2

For my second idea, I wanted to go along the route of Winshaw Towers, a mansion that I could see as being quite decrepit and grungy inside. Dark wallpaper, furniture, wainscot, Gothic in its features.

The concept I am going for with this design is the Winshaw Towers gallery. I've found photo's online of images that mirror the bad sides of the 'professions' of the 6 younger Winshaw generation.