This cover design for Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ features a close up of a centralised, dark knothole within a tree. This, an indication of Boo Radley’s actions within the novel and also a visual metaphor for things behind hidden/held within: Boo a recluse within his brother’s house, the good that exists within people, the racism within the town, the innocence within Tom Robinson and ultimately the story within the book’s cover.
A monochromatic black and white cover, the high contrast between black and white tones aptly represents the racial themes within the book, as well as themes of good vs. bad, right vs. wrong etc. This contrast provides a distinct aestheitc that would undoubtedly attract the gaze of consumers as a result of the tonal energry created through the juxtaposition of tones and the human eyes’ inability to view both of these simultaneously. Visual appeal is enahnced through strong feature of texture encouraging tactile exploration. Evident photographic origin has potential to appeal to keen photographer and judge Chris Packham.
Set inside the dark ground of the knothole within the tree is the book’s title ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ in white. This is communicated via two contrasting typefaces and styles - lower-case TeX Gyre Schola for transitional words ‘to’ and ‘a,’ and upper-case Avenir Medium for verb ‘kill’ and noun ‘mockingbird.’ The contrast in typogaphic style, letter case and character colour on ground has been used in enhancement of representation of racial conflict whilst also providing emphasis. This typographic device has potential to gage interest from judge and type psychologist Sarah Hyndman.
Beneath this central focus is the author’s name, Harper Lee, white in a black box set in standardised formatting (Uppercase for first letter of names[s]) in typeface Tex Gyre Schola for cohesion with the above transitional words and for compositional balance. This additionally has greater tracking for greater emphasis and signification of importance.
The spine of the book features the same typographic styling as that on the cover for a resolution considered to be a cohesive whole. The spine also features the ARROW branding as requested by the breif.
The design of the back cover is much cleaner and flatter than the textural front cover, allowing for the blurb to be read with ease. Maintaining consistency, the back cover also makes use of the two contrasting type styles - TeX Gyre Schola for the quotes and Avenir for the main body of text. The quote at the top is aided by a small bird icon sitting above for an element of visual dominance on an otherwise purely typographic back cover, though this is balanced by the barcode at the bottom of the composition.
The lack of colour and feature of multiple typeface styles creates a cover with a timeless aesthetic and therefore would appeal to a contemporary readership as much as it would more mature readers. The cover design has a strong concept and is also different to the many covers that have come before it - choosing not to focus the visual on a mockingbird.
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