Today Leah McDowell, from Floris Books in Edinbrugh, came to talk to us about design. I love Edinburgh so was interested to hear about the publishing scene in Scotland. She began by talking us through the beginnings of book cover design which was interesting as it was only in the 1800s that books began having cover images as opposed to plain leather bounding and a decorated spine. She explained that this came because they realised that the book cover was the most important marketing tool; it communicates what is in the book.

Leah explained the the design process at Floris Books as the circle of life with visuals from the Lion King. This was a really entertaining and engaging way of explaining the process and I enjoyed it. The next segment was ‘typography karaoke’ where the word hello was written onscreen in different font styles, and the class had to say the word how it is presented. For example hello in small font would be said quietly, whereas a cursive font that flowed around the page would be said in a flamboyant way. I also enjoyed this as it got us thinking about the importance of font and typography when expressing a mood or style of writing.

I thought it was beneficial learning about the importance of colour and the psychology behind colour decisions. An interesting example was the lack of the colour blue in food logos. This is because we associate blue food with mouldy food and does not appeal to the consumer so food logos are typically in red and yellow which are common food colours.

The rest of the class was set up as a workshop. We worked in groups to brainstorm ideas for a cover for the book Guardians of the Wild Unicorns. We were given a real design brief from 404 ink, and it was beneficial to have the opportunity to see what a brief consists of in industry. I loved the creativity of the task but it was challenging as the audience of the book is both boys and girls. It was difficult to focus on the broad market and stay away from personal preference. Our initial ideas were reflective of Ink by Alice Broadway but it was decided that it was too girly. Another girl in the group sketched a scene from the book which we loved as it adds an element of action. Just because unicorns are in the title they doesn’t necessarily need to be on the cover. When Leah revealed the finished product it was great to see that it was reminiscent of our design which suggests our ideas are on the right track.

There was an opportunity to ask questions and I asked how an interview for a design job would go. Leah explained the importance of a portfolio and suggests if I want to get into design then build up a portfolio on Photoshop, Indesign and Illustrator. I could potentially even redesign covers that I feel are not done well.

Helpful links:

http://www.lousybookcovers.com

spinemagazine.co

elemdesign.com/resources