Neil Gaiman
Book Covers
The goal for this project was to choose a series of 3 unrelated books by the same author and create book covers for them. While we could choose to include illustrations, photographic elements and other visual supplements, the goal was to build an understanding of basic typographic hierarchy utilised in such book covers. Since these book covers included relatively less information, the goal was to understand how to simplify the branding of these books in terms of primarily typography and ensure there was enough variation while still maintaining legibility. The focus was placed on : the title, author(s)’ name, minimal illustrations, and the blurb. The typeface had to be chosen based on the energy evoked when reading materials by the author, as well as the genre these would fit into. 2 versions of this cover were created, one for more traditional book cover styles that would expect the front to include the full title and illustrations, and another that allowed the illustrations to flow from front to back.
I chose Neil Gaiman as his books had very descriptive storytelling that could help readers picture the universe these books could be set in. It also helped that many of his books have been adapted into animated and live action movies and TV shows, so the visual language was something that the readers could pick up on. I chose a font first, and then illustrated based on the visual language of this font. While the fonts and illustrations are less serious and seemed appropriate for the fantasy setting of these worlds, the more mature color palette was chosen to stand out to a more mature audience of older teenagers and adults. This is in line with Gaiman’s style of writing, which is a more mature take on fantasy, and helps readers transition from less complex reading material to higher level reading material.