book cover

1. Book cover evaluation
Connor Wake

2. Themes I identified
In my final book cover I used images to represent the themes of the book. I did this by using a picture of a
semantic picture of Ashton off a roof. I chose this image as it was late at night and all of the lights were on.
This made it look like a slight kingdom what links in with the book “Kensuke’s Kingdom”. I then later edited
the image to make it look more like a kingdom. The lights also linked with the theme as it was dark in the
backdrop but it was bright in some parts nearer the front of the image. This links to the theme as in a part
of the book Michael went overboard and was fighting for his life until he passed out. Once this happened
his sight went dark and blurry and he was heading towards the light so this links with the colours i used.
The lighting also linked with the theme as it is slightly blurry but also dark with a bright aspect as that is the
vision that Michael had once he was passing out in the water. The book cover i created has a modern
style with it being a coloured photograph. This links with the book as it is a modern book as it is recent and
uses modern things such as the goal of travelling around the world what is modern as people in the 50’s
wouldn't have a goal of travelling the world there goals would be to get a house and a family etc.

3. Typeface style communicating to the book
I used the typeface called waveternity. This is a bold decorative font what holds a
wavy decor inside. This links to my book as it links to my target audience what is
teenagers. This links to my target market as it is simple, in your face and bold, this
makes it have quite an adult theme, however it has images of cartoon esc waves
inside to creative a childish sort of theme what then equals out the adult theme to
make a teenage target market. The waves in the text also links to the book as
that's the main plot of the book as it is to do with Michael going overboard and the
waves/water helping him turn up on the island. I kept the text black so it stands out
and easily readable from a distance. It also links in as it contrasts well with the
lights and it also links in with the dark backdrop used in the photograph.

4. Contextual Influences
In my book an artist called Hokusai. I used his work as it is links in with the
japanese type theme and culture and he focuses his art on waves in an illustrator
form. I took this work to find the correct font that would be suitable for my book
cover. I also used his work to inspire some of my other book covers what i didn't
end up using. From this artist i learned how to draw the japanese like waves and
also i learned what colours go well together. There was no other book covers that
inspired me. The original book cover for Kensuke’s Kingdom is effective as it has
a main image of the waves and boat what looks like danger so intrigues the
audience and it also uses colours that link to the book being red and blue, these
colours also contrast well and make the book bold and stand out, the writing on
the book is black and blue and is a serif font located right in the centre of the book
so it is easy to read, bold and visible. This creates a really effective book.

5. Stages of my design
It took me a lot of thought and process to come up with the final book cover. I started off by creating drafts
by drawing them in a storyboard style, during this process I created 6 initial sketches that i could of used.
After this i created some variations on the computer using illustrator by sketching them using the pen tool.
From this I played around with the font, text size and text colour until i found the one i wanted to use and
looked the best for my book cover. The next step of mine was to go out and take my own photographs, i
did this by borrowing a camera from college and going to the top of Ikea to take a semantic picture of
Ashton. I then took it home and took a picture of my brother looking like he was drowning in the style of
Alban Grosdidier. I then edited both pictures to make them look how i wanted them too with the correct
colour, lighting and style i wanted. After i done this i added the text i perfected to the style i wanted to both
images and picked what cover looked the best what was the image of Ashton. Once this was done i added
the final touches by centreing the text, making it the right size to go with the picture and also in the right
position so you can clearly see the image and so it looks good and also professional. Then i flipped the
image to make the back cover and added the blurb, making sure it was in the centre of the book and i also
made the spine by picking the best part of the image and adding the title and author and made them the
correct size and i also rotated the text so it’s on its side so it matches the spine.

6. Why i chose my final design
I chose this design as it was my favourite and looked more appealing to the
audience in my opinion. I liked my final design as it had the best colours and it
was my own photograph what i also liked. The book cover i chose was also the
best fit to the teenage target market as it was sophisticated with the image but the
writing was a little childish what brought the sophistication level from an adult to a
teenage level. The book cover also matches the brief of typefaces and letterforms
as it has a decorative font what is needed to match the target market. It also
brings out the best in the book as it makes it more appealing with it being
decorative and the waves inside the text so this makes the audience intrigued with
how that links in with the book so it makes the audience want to read the book.