The brief

Your brief is to design a stunning and contemporary cover for one of the 20th century’s most acclaimed authors, HG Wells.

Known mostly for his science fiction writing, HG Wells also wrote social novels that are still relevant today. He covered topics such as the mid-life crisis, class, feminism, materialism, consumerism and love.

Your challenge is to create cover designs for three of his books that work as a set and establish the books as timeless fiction. The books will be published in a paperback format and need to include the title, author’s name, publishers name and trademark. You only need to design the front cover and spine.

Making notes in your learning log:

• Identify the research you might need to undertake and the gaps in your knowledge. Can you identify any primary research that will help you? What resources could you use to undertake secondary research?
• Use the mind mapping technique to explore your keywords. Explore both extremes of obvious and radical solutions to the brief. What is the most obvious way of responding to it and what radical creative solutions can you come up with?

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How do I feel about this brief?

When I first sat down and read this brief my original thoughts were that it is well out of my comfort zone and that I had absolutely never heard of the author in my life! I have obviously heard of War of the Worlds but apart from that I was absolutely clueless! I do not read much myself (apart from design books and magazines) and the fact that the books are from the late 18th century- early 1900s put me off as my initial thought is that they would be outdated, old fashioned and written in “old English” (the grammar would be old words!) and not with the present times now at all.

I have already conducted a bit of research before going into too much yet. My first questions to myself were “Who is this guy? and what books did he write?”

I looked into the obvious being – The war of the worlds, Invisible man and The Time Machine. Having also looking at what other students on my course are doing, most of them have looked into the same books. Me being typical me :p felt like I need to step outside of my comfort zone and look into other publications. I have looked at a few titles such as Ann Veronica and The history of Mr Polly and have read a few pages of each to get a feel for the style of writing, the era and the stories.

I have also brainstormed ideas to give me direction for my next moves around this brief.

Research I shall undertake:

• Gaps in my knowledge: Research more into HG Wells. His history and background might help me in the style of my design outcomes.
• Research into HG Wells titles: What books did he write? What eras are they from? What are the stories and what subjects do they explore?
• What are the art and design movements of the time the books were published?
• What typography was being used around the time the books were published?
• What book covers are being used on present day HG Wells titles?
• What typography is being used on present day covers?
• Who reads HG Wells titles? Who or what are the target audience for these books?
• Who designed the covers for his existing books?
• Who published his work?

What primary research can I conduct?

• Take my own photographs of existing books and book covers to get an idea of what designs are currently being used
• Interviews with people who are interested in his work to see what they would want to see on his book cover designs
• Research into other competing titles; what designs do they have which makes them appealing. How are they a threat to HG Wells titles?
• Research into modern titles of the same genre of book

What secondary research can I conduct?

• Search the internet for HG Wells info, bio, book list, plot of books etc
• Reading the books
• Watching film adaptations
• Research into contemporary/modern design
• Research into design eras around the time of the book publication dates.
• Research into typography from the dates of the book publications and also look into modern contemporary typography of today.

What restrictions or implications do I need to take into account?

• Cost factors; Restriction of colours to keep printing costs down, what materials are being used? What weight/quality of paper/card?
• What is the size of the book that I am designing for? What is the standard size of a paperback novel?
• How many pages does the book have? – this might deterine how big the spine of the book is.