CREATING A NEW PUBLISHING IMPRINT
This time it was the word "imprint." An imprint is a brand identity for a line of books within an already established publishing firm. Think of the Penguin Classics line or the For Dummies line.
ONE OF MY OWN
My imprint would be based off of three books. The first was Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift. The second was The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino. And the third was Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie.
A picture of my notes with some logo sketches during the research phase.
MAKING CONNECTIONS
The most important thing about creating an imprint was being able to connect these three books. Upon first glance, it might seem like there are very few connections between these three books, apart from the fact that they are fiction novels. But through my research, there started to become more and more repeating themes that came to light.
VERSUS
The themes/motifs of defiance, water, challenging norms, relationships, and war became apparent to me. So I started to brainstorm names based on these concepts. I focused on playing off of the "Us vs. Them" phrase/mindset.
From left to right, the color palette of Gulliver's Travels, The Baron in the Trees, and Haroun and the Sea of Stories.
THREE FOR THREE
I decided to connect the three books within the imprint by using consistent treatments rather than color. As such, I developed three separate color palettes for the books. To emphasize the idea of "versus" I put fairly contrasted colors against as a way to build tension and the idea of being "at odds."
The assets from my book cover as shown in their original state without edits.
REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE
One of the messages I was trying to portray with my designs was the combination of past and present. All these books were published before the 2000s. I wanted to give them a more contemporary design. To do this I searched the Library of Congress for images that could be utilized as assets within my designs. The chosen images represented characters or important symbols within the book.
From left to right, top to bottom: the variations of Gulliver's Travels, The Baron in the Trees, and Haroun and the Sea of Stories, created throughout my design process.
ODD MAN OUT
In every book cover, there is a clearly established pattern. But there is also one image that breaks that pattern, in both color and direction. This alludes to both the breaking of social norms as well as the idea of one person against the world.
I also chose to consistently make part of the type upside down to further communicate this point.
I also chose to consistently make part of the type upside down to further communicate this point.
Mockups of my three book covers all together in one image.
ALL FOR ONE
The three book covers show connection to each other while simultaneously holding up their stories on their own. There is something beautiful design can aid in connection. Just by looking at this imprint design, you can tell they have something in common.