Book cover design for Bloomsbury Publishing and Hart Publishing
Some book covers I've designed over the past two years working for Bloomsbury Publishing's Academic Division in London, as well as Hart Publishing in Oxford. The books are available for order or pre-order on the Bloomsbury and, respectively, Hart websites.
01. Contemporary Fictions of Attention (Alice Bennet)
Literary Studies
Brief
Standalone monograph. Typographical cover for this one please.
Final Design
The editors/authors eventually decided a simple visual might work, so I picked the goldfish, since it's generally associated with forgetfulness. Since the budged was tight, I ended up drawing the goldfish (nicknamed Fishy) in Photoshop using various photo references.
02. New Medicalism and the Mental Health Act (John Fanning)
Medical Law
Brief
Given the subject matter of the book, a cover which reflects the themes of law or psychiatry in some way would be ideal. This has led m
to some rather clichéd suggestions, I’m afraid; for example, heads with cogs in them, heads that are broken, or silhouettes of heads. I have considered some artier options too, although I suspect that there may be issues with copyright and questions about sensitivity. Those that I have looked at include line drawings which evoke relevant themes. I have also considered the work by artists who were famous for their battles with mental illness, e.g., van Gogh and Kusama, although I suspect that these may be out of the question. I hope these examples at least give you a flavour of what I have in mind; do let me know if you require me to be any more specific.
Final Design
Cogs were of course out of the question, and due to a limited budget we couldn't go with paintings/illustration by Van Gogh or Kusama. The final design pulls together the illustrative approach the editors/author wanted, and the confusion element linking it to mental health.
03. The Afterlives of Roland Barthes (Neil Badmington)
Literary Studies
Brief
Simple photo and text image along the lines of the Dead Theory (x) cover. Suggested image along the lines of the "Angel of Grief" statue in Rome or similar "weeping-angel" type statue, with title prominent in the design.
Final Design
Stuck pretty close to the brief on this one, as I found the images fascinating. The author was fairly pleased with it as well.
“...thank you for the amazing cover design of my book The Afterlives of Roland Barthes, which I saw in the esh, as it were, for the rst time today. You’ve done a wonderful job, and I’m absolutely delighted with how the volume looks.” Neil Badmington
04. Virginia Woolf and the Ethics of Intimacy (Elsa Hogberg)
Literary Studies
Brief
Prominent title with low-key background image suggestive of (non-sexual) intimacy. Similar to Dead Theory (x) would work.
Final Design
Felt either very close cropped images of Virginia Woolf, or, alternatively, images of her personal space (her desk in her writing hut at Monks House, her bedroom) might work best and keep to the brief.
