Conceptual Book Cover
The Grapes of Wrath
Brief
The objective of the Conceptual Book Cover Projects is to design three book covers for a classic novel that effectively communicate the author's message or point of view behind the narrative. Utilize the novel's context and elements. The format of the first cover is to use typography in a creative manner to reflect the proposal. The second will use handmade physical objects to design a cover image. The last is up to the choice of the designer. This is an opportunity to use the previously learned creative strategies as well as gain experience with the design tools of Photoshop and Illustrator.
The book that I chose to design is The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Process
My process for creating projects is to think deeply upon the subject matter and do a lot of research. I hope to find symbolic graphical representations of the context, themes, and atmosphere of the story. Quick sketches get the general concept in the beginning. Further refinement of the idea comes through variation, experimentation and feedback.
Concept
The title comes from Steinbeck's description in chapter 25 of the book. Grapes that stay on the vine past harvest begin to decay and ferment, dripping purposelessly into the autumn soil. The wrath of injustice for people like the Joad family continues to build to bursting. “In the souls of the people, the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage.” The addition of barbed wire to the grapevines is to incorporate the immense adversity that these families faced on their journey.
Final submission
The concept is still within the final images - however, a lot of refining was needed to make them viable and understandable. In order for the type to be legible, I needed an actual font that evoked the same feel of a grapevine. The first is a combination of original concepts but balances each in a way to give equal weight to the meaning. The second came as an experiment and stayed similar to that idea with only a few tweeks. The images were made black and white to represent the time period - but also to bring emphasis to the bright red of the grapes and the drops. The drops in turn are made more deeply red to be reminiscent of blood spent and spilled.
