For the second part of the year-long editorial and production module, Ness Wood will be teaching us the ins and outs of book design. She began by introducing us to some titles she has worked on over her career and it was interesting to see the variety of different design techniques that she implemented on the different projects. As a designer the target market is key, which means one designer can produce an array of different styles.

It was a great introduction to design terminology and different effects that can be used to make a book stand out and acquire interest. It was interesting to learn that a typography based cover, compared to an illustrated or photography-based cover, isn’t necessarily an easy way out.

One takeaway from the class was to think outside the box when thinking of cover design. A Boy and a Bear in a Boat was the best example of thinking outside the box. Instead of going for an image of a a boy and a bear in a boat which would be too obvious, the cover represents a map with a coffee stain as the characters are lost. I thought it was clever and I hope to encorporate ideas like this in my own work.

In class we were provided with the blurbs to a selection of titles and we were to think of how it would be designed and with what features. It was interesting to see how I would picture a cover in my head compared to the designer’s actual choices. I enjoyed this task as it got us thinking creatively. Ness provided us with a guideline sheet which can be used throughout our work to form a basis for analysis, which will be very beneficial when doing our cover analysis.

Ness also got us thinking about how to design a paperback jacket from a hardback with a brief from the author. The brief we looked at provided three examples to base the final design on. We picked up on some key features to incorporate into the final design such as colour schemes, what was featured in the image, typeography and what mood it portrays. I didn’t realise that numerous designs are produced from which one or two are chosen to compare for the final product. Ness also explained that your first idea isn’t likely to be your final one.