We were given an assignment to redesign book covers for a novel of our choice. We were asked to create one design based on typography, one using handmade materials, and the last design  we could create using methods of our choice. 

The novel I chose was Lord of the Flies by William Golding. This is a book I read in high school for the first time that I really loved. The story follows a group of British schoolboys who are deserted on an island after a plane crash during a wartime evacuation during World War II without any adults. Initially the boys create a small society with rules and order, however as the story progresses the boys descend into chaos,  savagery, and violence. It's a really compelling story that causes the reader to examine human nature and the balance between civilization and anarchy. 

When designing these book covers I really wanted to convey the feeling of chaos and madness and violence. This was an aesthetic I haven't really explored before and was excited to create. 

I was very excited to create the typography cover design, as I have a particular love for typography and the power of font and typeface. I wanted to find a way to get these letters to interact and still be legible and create interest. I quickly realized I wanted to connect some of the vertical lines in the words in order to create a "pulling" or "falling" feeling. Once I picked a font that depicted the savagery and raw-ness that is felt in this story, I was really satisfied with this design. 

This was the design concept I was the least excited for, I feel very comfortable with creating in the digital world and not so comfortable in the physical world. I started experimenting with fake blood, after I found a recipe that included corn syrup, chocolate syrup, and red food dye. I ended up using my fingers to paint it on the paper, since brushes ended up looking too nice. My 4 year old daughter even joined in on the fun and helped me splatter "blood" across the paper. I loved the effect that I got, and then added the authors name digitally. I think this effect quickly communicated to potential audiences the savagery of the book, and I could not have achieved such a messy realistic look digitally. 

My last design was the one I struggled with the most. I think having so many possibilities was a little paralyzing to me! I had trouble getting too abstract and once I received feedback from my professor about the importance of giving a sense of time and place in my design, I decided to layer images of different tropical leaves along with a few symbols from the book including a conch shell, a wild pig, and the profile of a young boy. By layering these images in colors of reds, oranges, greens and purples I was able to achieve the feeling of madness and chaos that I was looking for. 

This was quite a journey for me, I really enjoyed having the time to flesh out these designs. I was able to build upon feedback from my peers in order to really create covers I am proud of. None of these covers ended up how I had initially conceived them to be, and I think the creative journey I took to get there was really enlightening and I've learned a lot from this assignment.