OUGD406 STUDIO BREIF 2 - STUDY TASK 2 - BOOK COVER ANALYSIS

This study task involved us having to analyse the front and back cover of the book from study task 1.

Front cover.

Back cover.

Designer
James Victore is the designer of Design Literacy: Understanding Graphic Design book cover.
"We are an independent design studio that creates sexy, strong, memorable work for brave clients. We want to work with people and companies who believe that the status quo is not enough, that good work matters, and that design can be a tool to affect opinions and culture. Some of this work even makes it into the MoMA. In the past we’ve worked our magic with MailChimp, Adobe, Esquire Magazine, The New York Times, Moet & Chandon, Yohji Yamamoto, Bobbi Brown, Aveda, The School of Visual Arts, and many others." - James Victore
Victore is influenced by Polish Poster Artist Henryk Tomaszewski, who painted posters using words.

Other works

"A dissident poster protesting the Disney-fication of Times Square. The original of this poster is housed in museums around the world as well as the Museum of Modern Art, NYC.
The idea to revitalize Times Square had been on the books since the early 1980's. In the late nineties, corporate donations helped make it happen, with Disney leading the way. Disney? New York, I love you, but you're bringing me down. Becoming bland. Becoming a franchise. Selling yourself short in search of a buck., and the lowest form of a buck to boot— a tourist buck. We can now travel to any spot on the planet and find the exact same crap we have at home. Put a roof over it and call it a mall.
Museum quality Epson print on enhanced matte cover stock. Printed with archival inks. Matte finish." - Disney Go Home

"A sexy advertising poster for the popular champagne company, Moët and Chandon. The original of this poster is housed in museums around the world as well as the Museum of Modern Art, NYC. Champagne and sex go well together, n'est-ce pas?
Museum quality Epson print on enhanced matte cover stock. Printed with archival inks. Matte finish." - Moet & Chandon

"Created for a series of free, outdoor Shakespeare plays put on in parks throughout NYC in 1993 by "The Shakespeare Project."
Black and white goes with everything. Even your ugly couch.
Museum quality Epson print on enhanced matte cover stock. Printed with archival inks. Matte finish." - Romeo & Juliet

"Social issue poster created in 1997 to raise awareness of AIDS.
The original of this poster is housed in museums around the world as well as the Museum of Modern Art, NYC. Originally these were promotional posters for a Japanese paper company, I chose to give them more meaning.
Museum quality Epson print on enhanced matte cover stock. Printed with archival inks. Matte finish." - Use a Condom

Victore has also written his own book: "James Victore gives fans a survey of his work and his no-holds-barred take on the practice, business, and teaching of graphic design today. Known for making vivid, memorable, and often controversial work, Victore has sought comrades, not clients—brave, smart collaborators who have encouraged him to reinterpret old design solutions and to pressure viewers to think about issues in a new way. Leading readers through this collection of “greatest hits,” Victore tells the stories behind his inspirations, his process, and the lessons learned. The result is an inspiring, funny, and honest book, which showcases a body of work that has been plastered on the streets of New York, hung at MoMA, and featured in magazines all over the world." - Amazon

James Victore has designed the covers for a lot of Steven Heller's books, (a selection):

Less is More

Design Literacy (Continued)

Design Dialogues.

The Education of a Graphic Designer

The Education of a Design Entrepreneur

Citizen Designer

Semiotics
The massive "X" on the front cover looks like it's telling the reader "NO!", or a warning, as you often see big crosses across signs telling you not to do certain things. Road signs are an excellent example of this, for example the no stopping sign.

"No Stopping Anytime" road sign.

I think that if the text box the text is in on the front cover was perhaps red instead of yellow, this would enhance this warning or dangerous theme much clearer, although perhaps this wasn't the initial intention. However yellow is also related to warnings or cautions, again with the example of the school pedestrian crossing sign, which orders cars to stop and let children pass, rather than warns them, so perhaps this is more of a ordering colour rather than a warning, although you do have the Caution signs as well which are bright yellow, catching peoples eyes.

School Pedestrian crossing road sign.

Warning signs.

These yellow warning signs also combine the yellow with black, as you can see in both examples, which the book cover also does, enhancing the warning appearance of the book.
The use of a bold, heavy weighted sans serif typeface for the title also enhances this appearance of a warning, especially with the combination of it and the large black "X" which covers most of the front cover. The use of a sans serif title is also similar to these warning and road signs, as they too use a bold sans serif typeface, which is very cohesive and clear.
I thought that the "X" on the front cover could represent the objects being analysed in the book, an x representing any one of the objects as a stand in figure for them.

Cover Analysis group discussion
During this critique-like discussion it was mentioned that the spine goes from the same yellow as the title text box to a much lighter yellow on the main part of the spine, it was thought that this wasn't done intentionally but was actually just sun bleached, which is entirely possible, and would explain why there was an uneven gradient on the spine as well.
One of my peers suggested that the "X" could represent X marks the spot, as in this is the place you are aiming for, you've found what you were looking for, which is in the pages of this book perhaps. Another one of my peers suggested that the "X" could represent an "x" in algebra, as an "x" in algebra stands in place for anything, a word, number, letter even, anything at all, and this "X" could be in place of the objects or the content on the pages. I think this is a very plausible idea, and also similar to something I picked up on in my own analysis, and also works well with the academic style of the book, and how it is broken up into essays as well. Someone in my group said that the "X" reminded them of the "X" from the Mac OSX logo, which once I Googled what it was, I agree with, as it is bold and dominating, the same as the "X" on my book cover.

Mac OSX.

One of my peers also commented how they liked how the edge of the photocopied paper on the back cover frames the title of the book, giving it a more meaningful and effective appearance.
It was also suggested to look at what "X" means to different countries, or it's other uses, which I have found out with the help of the Internet.
Some of it's uses:

• An abbreviation for 'between' when referencing historical dates
• To represent unknowns in different contexts, e.g. Person X
• In the Cartesian Coordinate system, it is used to mark the horizontal axis
• For the name of X-Rays, as the person who discovered them didn't know what they were.
• To indicate a signature line on forms
• Usually in art of fashion, it marks the collaboration between two artists.
• Maps leading to hidden treasure marks the treasure spot with an "X"
• In cartoon's a dead character's eyes are often marked as X's

It was also suggested that the "X" could reflect the tone of the essays within the book, if they were negative, however they aren't as I have discovered when reading a few, they are simply explaining the pieces themselves and their importance within history, rather than critically analysing the use of typography.

I then asked my peers to describe the cover using one word:

• Bland
• Mysterious
• Bold
• Contrasting
• Dark
• Not aged
• Engaging
• Intriguing