Judging by a Cover
In my mind a book cover is a great example of good design work. Intriguing cover art entices people to pick up a book, it helps them decide if they want to read the book and that leads them into wanting to buy the book. I know personally as well as others we will hold off buying books we want to own in to get just the right cover. This led me created several covers for some better known classic novels.
Lolita- Vladimir Nabokov
I find this story an interesting but conflicting one; its subject matter is complex and controversial, but it is a strong testament to freedom of speech and thought. I knew while designing the cover I wanted soft colours and the cherry to be a main focus. Different fruits have always represented different meanings and in classic paintings cherries were used to symbolize chastity and purity. Hence the modern colloquialism-so I knew right away how this would be a fitting image for this book cover.
The Catcher in the Rye- J.D Salinger
This boy’s adventures grabbed me and made me think of how dramatically your life could change over the course of a day. Thinking of this character in the rye fields, catching the children who run too close to the edge, I knew he was a solitary character, and looking at rye fields,I knew that yellow was an important colour. I was inspired by the poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost, and wanted the cover to be just this lone boy waiting near of precipice for where life is about to take him.
1984- George Orwell
Folk continue to find the relevance of this book. It’s a personal favourite of mine. When I decided I wanted to do Book Covers I decided immediately that one of them had to be 1984. I took one of the main speeches in the book and scratched out the words that would have given a person hope, leaving only the words that dictate and confine the world they live in. The colours I chose were significant; they represent the communist flag. I wanted this cover to be able to stand on its own and to represent a piece of art.
