Interim crit/evaluation

Idea 1

Feedback suggested that the background may work better as white, so that the inequality between the black and white people can be represented. Concentrating on the fact that there is more white than black colouring on the book would show how the effects of the civil war still haven't been resolved.

It was suggested that the equals sign may be easily mistaken for stripes, so to resolve this problem it should be placed more central and not touching the edges. It was also mentioned that there is an official symbol for inequality that could be used as the visual on this book cover design. 

The composition of the inequality sign could be used to effectively when presenting the blurb on the back of the book.

The text on the front would need to be rearranged so that it works within or around the inequality symbol. The use of this symbol will help to emphasise the fact that there is still no equality between the different races.

A problem with this design is that there are a lot of existing book covers that rely on the idea of black vs. white to also illustrate the same idea within the book. 

Idea 2

The idea of using the different elements to form a visual concept was thought to be positive, as it was said to be a pattern that hasn't previously been associated with 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. 

This experiment uses a 10p coin, despite it being a nickel in the actual book. Research has shown that a modern day equivalent to the nickel is a 5cent coin. If this idea was to be the final one, it would need to be changed so that the crayon rubbings are made with a 5cent coin. 

A relevant colour scheme would need to be established so that the themes of the book could be accurately represented. The black and white colour scheme should be explored to see if it helps to add to the deeper meaning of the design choices, or if it then makes it too obvious. It was thought that a hexagon shape with the pattern in may work well as the visual on the book, with the text working in and around it appropriately. 

It was also suggested that this could be merged with idea 3, using the chewing gum packet in the gap on the front of the book and changing the colour scheme of the pattern to complement the chewing gum packet. 

It was also thought that this idea would stand out against other designs for the book title because it isn't obvious, it will allow the audience to engage with the different elements and try to work out why the decisions have been made. 

Idea 3

It was thought that this idea would be most successful if kept very simple and plain. The gum would need to be the main feature and the positioning on the front cover will dramatically impact how the text on the back can be positioned. If the front cover was to have the gum packet across the bottom, the text on the back would also need to be kept very low down or it would all appear off balance. 

It may be necessary to experiment with the positioning of the chewing gum packet as it may work better if it is more central. 

Keeping the back ground colour white was thought to work best as it keeps the chewing gum packet as the main focus. the text on the rest of the book cover would work most effective if it was to stick with the same aesthetic as the chewing gum box. The only place that may need colour is the spine of the book. this may help to b=make it stand out when placed on a shelf in a book shop. It would be interesting to play around with the colour scheme and how it could form a visually engaging design.