OUGD504 - Penguin Student Design Award - To Kill a Mockingbird

Adult Fiction Cover Award

To Kill a Mockingbird

Harper Lee

The brief:

'To Kill A Mockingbird is a Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece of modern literature and was voted the most loved book of the last sixty years by The Times readers in October 2009. It has been translated into more than forty languages and has sold over thirty million copies worldwide. So no pressure.'

Design a new and classic cover for this book. The trick here will be to come at it from a fresh perspective and to avoid repeating the obvious iconography from the many previous editions in print. If you can get your hands on a copy of the book in order to get a sense of the beautiful writing, this will only help to inspire your design. The cover should feel timeless and confident, and appeal to a whole new generation of readers.'

• Focus on typography
• Be original
• New perspective

I have studied this publication during my GCSE's so I have an in depth understanding of the publication and cultural and political context that surrounds the story.

Brief Overview

The story is set in the Great Depression during the 1930's in a small town called Maycomb, Mississippi. The poor community host high unemployment and poverty. Racism is a predominant theme during this time which is described throughout the book. Lee has written the publication as a narrative of Scout, the youngest character to feature. This provides an innocent and naive perspective of the events.  

Key characters:

• Scout
• Jem
• Atticus (lawyer/farther) Finch family is reasonably well off in comparison to the rest of society.
• Tom Robinson - Black man wrongly accused of killing white man. Respectable and good man.
• Mayella Ewell - Woman who accuses Tom Robinson
• Bob Ewell - Mayella's father who rapes her and accuses Tom Robinson
• Boo Radley - Misunderstood - He is, arguably, the most potent character in the whole book and as such, inspires the other key characters to save him when he needs saving.

I think this publication will be a popular choice for submissions because it is such an iconic book that has been read and studied countless amounts of times. Therefor the book cover will need to be based on an innovative and fresh concept.

The Great Depression

The Great Depression (1929-39) was the deepest and longest-lasting economic downturn in the history of the Western industrialised world. It began soon after the stock market crash of October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors. Over the next several years, consumer spending and investment dropped, causing steep declines in industrial output and rising levels of unemployment. This reflects the town of Maycomb as it was described as having high unemployment and poverty.

Blacks faced unemployment of 50 percent or more, compared with about 30 percent for whites. Black wages were at least 30 percent below those of white workers, who themselves were barely at subsistence level. The Black community suffered the most as they were at threat to lynches, hangings and unemployment/poverty. 

Racism

Segregation signage from US 1930:

The signage used to segregate black people during the 1930's allows me to see the typographic styles used. They are predominantly wide, capitalised sans-serifs to increase legibility and authority.

Stumbled across some newspaper cuttings and from the 1930's:

The Voice of Action

http://depts.washington.edu/depress/voice_of_action.shtml 

The Voice of Action was a communist newspaper printed in the 1930s. There was such a high demand for a newspaper that will print what is actually going on such as public education about racial injustices, and legal support for civil rights activities. It became extremely popular as it supported the unemployed as this cover illustrates:

Layering the illustration over the content shows how radical the organisation was. 

The Voice of Action helped publicise the Ted Jordan case in 1933. Sentenced to death by an Oregon court, International Labor Defence protests helped save his life. (September 11, 1933)

Reminds me of the scene in which Atticus is protecting Tom in prison to defend him from an angry mob that still aren't happy even though Tom has been sentenced to death. The image below is from The Voice of Action, which helped to save Ted Jordan's life.

The illustration engages the audience due to the sense of perspective provided by the print, this perfectly illustrates Tom Radley's fight for survival.

These can help to inspire and inform my design decisions, such as typeface and layout.

High contrasting composition due to the black and white colour scheme - Impactful

The wide bulky capitalised text is extremely authoritative which will influence my choice of typeface further in the project. The imagery and type are all supported by the illustration which makes the poster striking and balanced.

Cooper Black in use:

The typefaces are predominantly wide sans serif which increases legibility and authority across the racist signage and posters for and against racism at the time. As Penguin have put a emphasis on well considered typography, I researched further into the typefaces commonly used during the 1930s, specifically America.

Identified 8:

As typography is highlighted as a key consideration, these typefaces will give me a range to experiment with in order to find the best suited to the composition. Upon reflection, I noticed that Biko is the typeface used by last years winner, also same category:

In order to avoid repetition I don't think the judges would choose such an original typeface two years in a row, especially as typography is the key feature of a book cover, therefor I will avoid using it. 

To Kill a Mockingbird - Previous Covers

The brief states: 'The trick here will be to come at it from a fresh perspective and to avoid repeating the obvious iconography from the many previous editions in print.' The friendly tone of voice is encouraging and gives a clue to what the judges are looking for. 

In order to be original, I researched into previous book covers for 'To Kill a Mockingbird' to avoid repeating concepts. 

First Edition, 1960:

• Traditional and formal layout
• Title before author - Hierarchy
• Contrasting type sizes - Hierachy 
• Tree illustration is predominant feature
• Dull colour scheme contrasts with the type

The themes and concerns that appear throughout the book are sensitive which informs why the publication has such a traditional and formal layout. In order the be ambiguous for new readers, the subject of the tree becomes a symbol for the publication, making the book cover instantly recognisable. 

Other editions:

The lack of typography creates a large amount of white space which leaves room for the audiences own interpretation. Penguin's brief must include typography on the cover, however this shows the importance of white space in order to create authority:

                        

Foreign Editions:

A consistent theme that I have identified from the range of covers is the use of the tree and/or mockingbird. In order to stand out, I will avoid these characters because the brief specifically states it should be approached from a new perspective. A lot of space is dedicated to the image rather than the typography so a typographic composition would stand out. All of the covers illustrate key elements from the book. In order for my concept to be original, I aim to reflect on my critical knowledge of the book in order to influence original ideas.