Thumbnail sketches

For my thumbnail sketches I wanted to explore both an illustrated approach and a mainly typographical one.

In my research I discovered that the previous winners of the book cover competition had elements of illustration in their covers, so this was a focus of mine. I also wanted to give my cover a different look to others - as books aimed at adults can often be plain looking and simple. 

Top left: using the creepy Radley house in the book and movie as the main element of the cover. The colours could be dark to reflect the mood of the book.

Top right: Similar to the 50th anniversary edition of the book, the cover features a tyre swing to portray the childhood innocence of the main characters. The word Kill is placed in the middle of the tyre to add emphasis to the meaning of the word.

Bottom left: The scene in the bottom left cover shows the courtroom with Tom, the accused rapist on the stand and three children (Scout, Jem and Dill) watching on. The type is fitted around the image.

Bottom right: This cover is mainly typographical with the title the biggest feature. A rope is wrapped around the text to represent the death that Tom will face.

Top left: The focus for this cover is the moon and tree. The moon respresents the light in the darkness and the tree is a recurring prop in the book - where Boo Radley hid toys and presents for the children.

Top right: Again focusing on the law/crime aspect of the book, the image of a handcuff is aligned to the right with the title in the hand hole of the cuff. I like the negative space that the cover has.

Bottom left: This cover features a picket fence, one that would typically be seen in the era of the book, and the background is split, half black and half white to represent the racial divide in the book.

Bottom right: The illustration of a man in dungarees alludes to both the poor position of accused rapist and the childhood innoncence of Scout. Both wear dungarees in the film and I wanted to combine the imagery of the film with the imagery of the book.

Top left: Typographic focus, with the title taking up almost the entire cover, with a dagger piercing the word kill, which will be written in red.

Top right: The cover focuses again on the children, with Scout, Jem and Dill in figure forms. The title runs vertically with 'to kill' in the form of the first child Scout, 'a mocking' in the form of Jem and 'bird' in the form of Dill. Behind the children is a tree in the top left corner and a rope hanging down on the side.

Bottom left: Again mainly typographical focus with the title broken up to fit into the outline of the state of Alabama. This is powerful as Alabama is a southern state, one where racism is more prominent than most other states.

Bottom right: This cover combines typography with the crime aspect of the book, the title is interwoven between jail bars. This could be problematic as not all of the title is visible, making it less legible but I like the premise.