Critique

When taking my initial CAD designs to the critique it was evident that none of the designs came across as a fully designed book cover, with the general design appearing too minimal to engage the consumer.

The first design was criticised heavily for the white cover, as it was stated that the cover would get easily dirty, and thus the consumer would be less likely to buy the product. 

The illustation itslef was said to be strong and resemble the stories contexual elements. though it was stated that to be of a small scale some other componant would have to be involved such as foiling/embossing in order to make the design more intresting. As this is a penguin brief and finishes cannot be discussed it is fair to suggest that this deisgn would not be influential. 

The typeface was said to be strong, alongside the compistion of the text in relation to the tree. Again text size was discussed with a larger point being suggested. 

 Out of all the covers this design gained the most positive feedback with the concept being an influencing factor. The black vs white approach was said to tie the design together. The clock was also said to be a strong yet somewhat ambigious way in which to illustate the novel, and thus it was suggested that other componants such as tree's may be added to the design in order to make it somewhat more obvious.

The type was highlighted as a strong influence in the design, with the black and white effect being further embedded. The composition of the text also allows the consumer to 'work' for the information as the consumer reads from left to right, up then down. Causing the consumer to have to actively search for the information.

When receiving feedback for the first typographical cover it became evident that to use altering letterforms made the typography difficult to read, and thus legibility must be considered.

Again black and white was used, although it was stated that this colour scheme did not grab the consumers attention, and thus a wider colour palette might want to be explored.

It was stated that the composition of the piece was relatively boring and thus a larger typography approach should be used to engage the consumer.

With the second typographic approach, the 'i' was said to be far more effective as it appeared legible and also protected the idea of innocence more clearly.

The added usage of red dictated the blood within the novel subtly, as well as highlighting the key attributes upon the cover. This was stated to be an effective way in which to highlight the authors name.

Again the text size was said to be too small, and thus composition should be explored further.









From the feedback gathered it is evident that the designs are only in their first stages of development and that further experiments should be made. When asking generally about the designs, it was stated that their were other, more conceptual ideas within the initial drawings and thus it must be considered whether to complete a few more approaches. It was also stated that the minimal design is effective but is not strong enough to win a competion with so many competitors and thus my approach must be looked at from a different angle.

As a result of the feedback it has been decided to complete some further designs from that of my initial drawings and incorporate aspects from the above designs. Wider approaches should be explored, including photography as this was mentioned specifically as a comment.