The second project for the ART235 class at BYU-I is about designing Conceptual Book Covers for a classic novel. The prompt we were given reads:

"To celebrate the most influential books of all time, the Library of Congress is hosting an exhibit featuring historical artifacts, original manuscripts, first editions, and other objects related to the authorship and original release of each text. The show ends with a looking deeper section that features newly designed cover concepts focused on the meaning of each book and not just the story or familiar elements. The idea is to use the book cover as a way to more directly express the author's beliefs, point of view, and/or agenda behind the famous story."

The novel I chose was Moby Dick​. Moby Dick or The Whale is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the maniacal quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship Pequod, for vengeance against Moby Dick, the giant white sperm whale that crippled him on the ship's previous voyage.

We were assigned to design 3 book covers, each with a different focus: Typography, Handmade, and Designer's choice.

For the first cover (above), we were instructed to create a design whose main focus was the Typography.  As with all our covers, the only words on the cover should be the title and the author.

To create this design, I used Adobe Illustrator. I use the Glyph lesson in my ART 230 Typography class for this. I type in MOBY DICK first then adjust it to look nice and artistic. The font is Neue Haas Grostesk, although heavily modified for aesthetic purpose. I then add important icons from the book to each alphabet. For example, there is a ship hidden inside an M and there is a whale hidden inside a B and a D. 

For the Physical Materials cover, we were instructed to create a cover at least 90% non-digital. We are allowed to do small things on the computer, like color editing or adding text, but the focus should be on creating a design with physical materials.

I first draw the sea wave and use COPIC to colour them. When I'm done with the waves, I cut them and stick them on the new paper for a 3D effect. I use Japanese Origami to fold the boat and the whale. 

For the Designer's choice, I choose this cover because I like how simple it is. I use Isolation from Project 1 to emphasise Moby Dick among the boat. I had a hard time choosing Desisgner's choice cover but ended up with this one with no regret.