This is the mock-up of my book jacket for the Penguin Design Award brief for The Secret History by Donna Tartt. It isn't how I was envisioning it at the beginning of the project, but I suppose that is only a good thing, as it shows that I've adapted and analysed the brief and my own development of the project as I went along.
It is a matt white cover, with type in members of the Fruitiger family. There is then a dust jacket in red card with ivy leaves printed on in greyscale, which sprawls over the cover, hiding some of the copy. I added a layer of sticky backed plastic to indicate a high gloss finish. It is only a partial dustjacket, a job for a laser cutter (or me with a very sharp scalpel). I wanted to represent the secrets and deception in the story through layers, so all was not obvious to the viewer on first glance. I chose white because of the snow that the second victim is hidden underneath, but also the description 'the river ran white', which stuck in my head. The ivy on the dustjacket refers to both the symbol of Bacchus, but also another line from the same passage about the ivy running up the trees before their eyes. The way it sprawls over the cover is related to this also, and causes an uncomfortable feeling. The similarity to a blood spatter could also be mentioned.
I only made the choice to go down this route a few days before the final crit, so there are still tweaks to make on the typography and I also want to tackle the end papers etc inside. The paper stocks aren't quite right yet either, I want a very matt, maybe slightly textured stiff paper for the white, and a high gloss for the semi-dustjacket. Neil Buchannen would be proud of my application of sticky backed plastic...
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