OUGD406 STUDIO BRIEF 2 - BACK COVER RESEARCH

I was unsure how to set about designing the back cover for my book, so I thought the best way would be to look at some of the back covers of my own books, having a look at the elements they have included, and any similarities in layout design, or any back covers that particularly stood out for me. I looked at both fiction, non fiction and creative books, so that I would get a variety of examples.

Silver Linings: Playbook by Matthew Quick

This back cover combines the use of a simple sans serif for the body text, and a hand written style sans serif typeface for more specific parts, such as the announcement the book is now a film, and the names of reviewers. What I find quite interesting is at the bottom there is a few lines stating the key people involved in producing the film, exactly the same as you would find on the back of a DVD case, in the same extremely tall and thin, so it's almost unreadable typeface as well. This is unusual to find on the back of a book, as it has all the references to the film, however this book does have a film cover, rather than the original, so would make sense. I think the use of reviews underneath the blurb is a very nice addition, as it lets people see what reputable names think of the book, which could persuade you to read it. There are also little illustrations in the top left and right corners, very simple, but perhaps another reference to the content of the book, perhaps the dance aspect it has. All the text is centrally aligned except for the blurb which is fully justified, creating lovely clean edges, framing the page nicely. It would appear odd if the reviews were aligned anything other than centres, as there isn't enough text to even fill one line, so there would be an unbalancedness to the cover. Here I note the publisher and cover designer are noted in the bottom left corner, in very small text, which is the same case with my own back cover. Initially I thought it unusual the cover designer to be recognised on the cover itself, but perhaps this is the norm. The simple black and yellow colour palette makes the mainly text back cover appear not as complicated and crowded as it could do, but gives it room to breath, and the words speak for themselves. I feel this is something I must also achieve, as the blurb to my book is rather lengthy.

 Bridget Jones: Mad About A Boy by Helen Fielding

This back cover is very different to the previous, despite them both being novels. What's interesting is that the designer has used three different typefaces for the text, a different one for each aspect. This suggests different stages within the book, which reflects it well, as it's made up entirely of diary entries. The typeface which stands out the most is the last one, as it is the most bold, and uses alternating dark and light red coloured letters to create an interesting pattern. This is also the most important part of the cover, as this book was long awaited as the third book in the Bridget Jones series, so the phrase "BRIDGET JONES IS BACK" has a lot of meaning, and deserves to be made as bold as it is. Interestingly there is no blurb on this back cover either, simply a quote from the book and that powerful statement, which creates interest and makes you open up the book to see what it's about. The colour choices are also very simple, even though an image is used at the bottom part, which I imagine would have some key reference to the contents of the book. But the empty chair and shoes on the floor adds to the intrigue, making you want to look inside even more. The white border holds everything together, keeping it all contained.The bar code and ISBN number is also framed off in white in the corner, I presume for easy scanning and readability, although this does detract from the overall aesthetics of the back cover.

This is the front inside fold, which contains the blurb to the book. This means that the front and back cover can both be purely imagery based, rather than being informative as such, meaning they can be much more interesting and not have to accommodate huge amounts of text if they didn't want to. I think this is an excellent idea for a novel, as the cover should be captivating and reflective of the content, however I'm not sure about it for a non fiction, analysis book, where the content is very education based, intended to inform rather than for people to get lost up in the story. 

This is the back inside flap which contains a bit of information and a photograph of the author, which I think is good to include in any book, as it gives the reader a bit of background information about whose wrote the book, so that they can put a face to the content. being on the inside flap as well lets the imagery on the cover stand out, and doesn't make it over crowded, yet still has the content there if wished to be accessed. The author on the back inside flap is a good placing for this information, as when you first open the cover of the book, you'd much rather read about the story or contents itself rather than whose wrote it, as this is what you are interested in. The author being at the back still makes her in easy access if you want to read about her, and makes a nice ending to the book once it's been read, reading about the person whose wrote what you've just read, it makes you appreciate them as a writer more, rather than reading about them before you know the quality of the writing or the story.

Size 14 is Not Fat Either by Meg Cabot

This back cover is much more text heavy than the previous two back covers, and mainly features the blurb and a little bit which states that this book is the second one in the series. The title in this statement is bold and of the same typeface and colour as the title on the front of the book cover, emphasising again the name of the book. Once again two typefaces are used; one for the title of the book and another for the body text, to distinguish between the importance of each bit of text, and to also enhance the title of the book. I don't particularly like this back cover as for a novel it is incredibly word heavy, and all in a block and centrally aligned so had ragged edges on both sides, it proves rather unappealing to read. A more succinct blurb I feel would be better, especially as this book is aimed at teenagers rather than adults, who may not 'be bothered' to read a blurb as long as this.

Missing: Code Name Cassandra by Meg Cabot

This is another of Meg Cabot's books, only this time the back cover is a lot more appealing, with a much lighter word count and interesting imagery as well. The dark cloud at the top of the page provides a very useful space for the title of the book and a small side line to go, so people know where to start reading from. There is a large lightning bold illustration coming out of this cloud too, which is a reference to the contents of the book, and also allows the text to fit around it nicely, so it is right aligned and has a very smooth rag to the left, framing the lightning effectively. The bottom is also sectioned off, with a stripe looking like the ground holding the next book in the series and the price, bar and ISBN codes. This sections off this complex information from the rest of the information in the book, highlighting that these things are actually included in the content of the book, only necessary or unnecessary extras.

PEARS Cyclopaedia 81st Edition

This edition of the book was printed in 1972, so the design isn't exactly up to date. One aspect which I think works exceptionally well on this back cover is the small piece of information about the book itself, which is centrally aligned and in the upper centre of the back cover. The small amount of text on the back of this book really helps to highlight the bold colours used on it, which is the same on the front as well, only with illustrations of objects in a variety of colours. But this space allows the colour to shine nicely, making you think it's not going to be boring to read once you open it, even though it is a cyclopaedia written in 1972.

This is the back inside flap, which explains what PEARS actually stands for, which I didn't realise until I went to take these photographs,  thought it was about pears to be truthfully honest initially, and then I thought Pears was just the publishers name, or in a similar way to how you have the Oxford English Dictionary. This is a very interesting piece about PEARS, which I think is nice to let people read about aside from the contents of the book, as it gives a little more information about them.

This is the front inside flap, which gives a more comprehensive overview of what the contents of the book is actually about, instead of the brief description on the back. This is a very effective method, which allows for a full blurb to be included, yet not be on the main cover, to allow for the artwork or imagery to be prominent, luring people into the book.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin

This back cover is similar in a way to the Bridget Jones back cover, as the only text it contains is a quote from the book, framed nicely in a circle and a plant like illustration, making it look a little like a stamp perhaps, or at least important and higher class, as the plant lie illustration could be a wreath of some sort. The ISBN and bar code are also included at the bottom of the cover, centrally so as not to attract attention. The background of the cover is covered in this zig zag watercolour pattern, which is a very different style to the style of paintings that existed in the Pride and Prejudice era. The bright colours of the pattern also makes the stamp part stand out nicely, as this is a very pale colour, so it clear on the page this is the most important part. Perhaps a stamp idea could work quite nicely on my back cover, with an interesting quote from the book in it, to engage the readers.

This is the back inside flap, which contains information about other books in this series of book covers, which could entice people to want to buy them, especially if they like the style of cover. it could be a good idea to include the sequel to my book on one of the flaps, to show there is a continuation of this book if you want to read further into it. There is not much text, and the photographs of the covers are only small, perhaps to let the information speak for itself, and the blank space let the information breath so you can think about these books and nothing else. If this flap were too complex I feel it would take away from the inside cover pattern as well, which is a continuation of the watercolour style painting that was on the cover.

The front inside flap contains the full blurb, although even this blurb is succinct, as Jane Austin must want the story to speak for itself, and not to give too much of the story away. The price of the book is also shown on this flap, perhaps not included on the cover as the pattern is what should stand out, rather than the information as such, small things would only overcomplicate it. Again there is a nice amount of space around the text, leaving space for your mind to think, not being bombarded with facts and information and drawings. The text is left aligned with quite a round right rag, although I don't think this takes away from the aesthetic of it. The left alignment helps it to stick to the edge of the flap nicely, and makes sure you known exactly where you start reading from on each new line. The price is tucked away in the right bottom corner, so it acts as kind of a full stop to the flap. The price is shown in both GBP and Canadian Dollars, perhaps something to do with the location of the publishing house?

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

The blurb on the back of this book is centrally aligned, with a ver aesthetically appealing rag on either side, making it easy to read even though there are no clean lines. The publishing company has it's logo at the top of the blurb, creating an effective and clear starting point to the back cover. The ISBN number and bar code information are at the bottom of the cover, again centrally aligned, so everything fits nicely down the centre of the cover, rather than some bits being left aligned, some right and it all looking a little jumbled up. There are also stripes that come in at either side, which help to frame the information on the back cover, and giving a reasoning for central alignment rather than flush left, as everything is proportional on each side, rather than more one than the other, which is caused b the stripes coming in evenly.

As you can see the stripes are a continuation from the spine of the book, which helps link the spine to the back cover, so it flows more evenly, and the sides of the book don't appear as separate aspects but work together as a whole.

Thinking with Type, 2nd Edition by Ellen Lupton

This back cover is jam packed full of all kinds of information. Along the left side we have reviews of the book, and on the right side we have the blurb and a bit about the author Ellen Lupton, as well as a website, ISBN number, bar code and price, using every available space. This is a book focusing purely on type, so it would be bizarre for type not to play some role on the back cover. In previous books, the reviewer has been highlighted using a different typeface to highlight them, whereas in this back cover, key words from the reviews have been picked out it incredibly bod, different typefaces, highlighting the content of the book perhaps. The reviewers are also picked out in a different typeface and in a different colour and size, however just not as bold or as prominent as the key words. The blurb is also quite lengthy, taking up 2/3 of the right column, which may appear daunting to read, although this is an informative book, so the potential reader should be prepared to read pages of information rather than just short snippets. The two sides of the cover are divided nicely using lines, which creates a sense of organisation on this cover, which is very important due to all the information which is crammed on. The simple black, white and orange colour palette keeps the cover as simple as can be, and I think if any more colours were to be used, then it would appear too overcrowded. Although this cover has been organised expertly to make it as readable as possible, I do think that for my back cover I would like to make it as simple as possible, only including the necessary information, as I think simplicity is the way to attract people, rather than bombarding them with information.

The A-Z of Visual Ideas: How to Solve Any Creative Brief by John Ingledew

This back cover is very simple compared to the previous back cover, even though the same information is included. The most prominent aspect on this cover are the reviews, which are of the largest size text, and are positioned in the top left corner, where the eye immediately first goes to. Interestingly, although the text is spread out of this cover, it is all left aligned and flush to the left edge of the book as well, which I'm not sure about as there is a weird space to the right that looks a little empty, but it's just unusual. The blurb is in the bottom middle section of the cover, in a smaller point size to the reviews, which perhaps suggests that the content should speak for itself, but a blurb is a necessity maybe. Directly underneath the blurb is a piece about the author alongside a photograph. This piece of text is black rather than white, which against suggests at how important it is, that it;s just a formality to include something about the author, just so he can be recognised, he isn't trying to promote himself so obviously. 

This research has been really useful to me, as I now have a solid understanding of what kind of information should be included on the back cover, and the kinds of layouts which are used, which I could perhaps adopt myself. I have also discovered that I prefer the simple designs, and the ones where the bulk of the information is on the inside flaps, rather than the back cover itself, which therefore allows the cover to speak for itself, and forces you to dig deeper if you want to find out more about the book.