FOR PRINT BOOK JACKET
FOR AN UNPUBLISHED NOVEL
As an aspiring author, I used Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) to write a novel. As part of the process, I designed a book jacket to correspond with the novel as a gift for family and friends for the holidays.
The novel is about three women in the Authorian legends, so I set out to incorporate that trinity into the design. The three intertwined faces represent how their lives flowed and came together.
AUTHOR/DESIGNER DECEMBER '21 MORE ON THE BOOK
CONCEPT
With the novel incorporating the idea of three women interconnected by a singular mythical figure, the idea was to intertwine 3 female forms. Rather than lean into the ancient mythical aspect, I chose to push toward a more modern graphic cover highlighting women.
PROCESS
For this project, I chose to use Canva as the main graphic tool since I found the clipart pieces that I wanted to create the continuous female shape. From there, I played with how the lines connected, the shapes they could make, and whether I wanted a graphic background or a simple, solid color. Canva made it easy to iterate multiple concepts within the same file.
CHALLENGES
Not only were we tasked to create a mobile app but a responsive website. Both function for different users while also needed to be cohesive and compliment each other. The challenge was keeping the app simple, easy to use, and not overwhelming like many gov't platforms can be and then fleshing out the website so that there was more information accesible for the user.
THE ITERATIONS
Once I settled on the female shape, I found that I really only had a handful of drafts. I pulled color concepts from the traditional view of royalty: Gold and Purple since the central figures of the novel were queens.
The first draft settled on the gold color, which while soothing, did not have the dramatic punch the novel called for. Likewise, shifting to purple with a warmer undertone, while more graphic, seemed to flatten in such a large box.
I finally settled on a rich, purple/fuchsia flower image that I then darkened to achieve an almost black color to evoke that royal status of the characters. Darkening the overall color scheme also helped the female form stand out more and make the cover more eye catching
THE FINAL
DRAFT & SUBMISSION
.png)
I decided to use the Barnes & Noble print-on-demand option in order to professional print both the novel and the book jacket. Using their website, I was able to format the novel document, selecting size, paper, and choosing to use a book jacket vs a printed hard cover. B&N provides a measured template based on your chosen book size and formatting to help you create your book jacket.
Using the template, I transferred the initial cover design and expanded the graphic items. The copy for both the inside flaps and the back, I wrote myself to achieve the published jacket cover look. This took some time to properly format the font and sizing for readability.
I also took into account the different folds of the jacket cover in graphic placement so that each fold would be attractive but that the colors would bleed continuously.
The last step was to upload it to B&N and select the paper and texture. For this, I chose the mat finish vs the high gloss.
CONCLUSIONS
The final product was a professional, highly eye catching book jacket cover that evokes the moodiness of the novel text, the regality of the characters, and the interconnective quality of the three women for which the novel is about.
TAKE-AWAYS
It was an interesting challenge to take into account not just the front and back covers and binding but also the interior flaps. This presented new challenges regarding continuity of design while providing something that still catches the reader.
If I was to do it again, I would keep the same female form and play around with different sans serif font styles, and perhaps mixing of flowers and foliage.