Series of Book Covers
This series of book covers was designed in response to a university project brief. The set of three books - H is for Hawk by Helen MacDonald, Being a Beast by Charles Foster, and The Outrun by Amy Liptrot - are from the nature and memoir genre. The task was to design book covers that reflected the content of each individual book, as well as looking like part of a set.
With my book cover designs, I hoped to go beyond a literal representation of each title. I wanted my designs to be simple yet elegant and complex; to encapsulate each book in a clever symbol – one that would spark a connection for the reader.
Digital photography was used to photograph natural objects, which serve as symbolic metaphors for each book.
The covers have been kept simple, clean and consistent with a white background on the fronts, backs and spines. This way, the symbols are able to stand out, along with the titles and author’s names, which have been executed in my own hand lettering – making the books appear more personal, which is befitting for the memoir genre of the set.
For The Outrun, a round, textured rock symbolises a full moon – representing wholeness, renewed hope and a restored life that the author is striving towards.
For Being a Beast, I have used two elongated, wilting leaves that symbolise eyes – a reference to the author’s experience living like different animals and gaining new perspectives of the world.
For H is for Hawk, flower petals in a teardrop shape symbolise grief, fragility yet resilience – and also reference the feathers of a hawk.
