OUGD406 - Studio Brief 01 - Final Design: Refined

Based on peer feedback, it was decided to refine this final design slightly before submitting it to the competition. It was suggested that the spine was one of the strongest elements of the design, however it was felt that the white border around this was unnecessary, but if was essential to use then it should be consistent around the entire spread of the book cover design. Another suggestion was that the eyes on the spine were too small a scale. Both of these comments were taken into consideration and so the final design was developed to remove this border and enlarge the eyes slightly so that less of the faces are showing, which focuses more on their distinctive features and creates more mystery within the design.

It was also considered that some elements of the design were misaligned, which meant the design was not clearly refined to a high quality. These were modified through the use of guidelines and a grid system on Illustrator. The use of type for the title was also modified in that the 'In Cold' part of the title lined up with 'Blood' so that these did not look too disjointed from each other and creates more of an impact on the front cover.

Although the concept was considered overall to be strong, it was suggested by some that the barcode being placed at the bottom of the page distracted from the overall communication of the design, and so needed modifying and bringing in a more playful element to the design. These images were made more playful through the addition of another barcode. Both the fake and real barcodes were placed over Hickock and Smith’s prisoner/booking numbers, which then almost become their prisoner numbers. Much like barcodes belong to specific objects, Hickock and Smith now belong to their prisoner numbers. In this design, it is as if Hickock and Smith themselves belong to the barcode which is made specifically for this book and so ultimately belong to the story.

OUGD406 - Studio Brief 01 - Final Crit Evaluation

Have an imaginative concept and original interpretation of the brief?

It was suggested that the concept is interesting and that the overall design effectively communicates this, in particular the spine and back cover in separating the prisoners' numbers from their heads to portray their split personalities. From this feedback, it was shown that the spine is one of the strongest parts of the design, conveying mystery and an element which would make it stand out on a shelf amongst many other books. However, one alteration I could make in terms of this would be to increase the size of the eyes, as there is perhaps too much of Hickock and Smith's faces showing. This would increase the idea of mystery, in drawing you further towards the book.

The design uses a white border around the spine, used initially to further highlight their eyes and separate them slightly from the front and back covers. Feedback suggested that this border may not be necessary and if I were to keep it, give both the front and back covers the same border to keep consistency in the whole design.

Be competently executed with a strong use of typography?

The use of Bodoni works well in the design and has clear links to the first edition of In Cold Blood which also used this typeface. However, it was suggested that this should be altered slightly in reducing the weight and size of the authors name on the spine so that the differentiation between the authors name and the title of the book is clearer as currently they are too close in size. Originally this decision was made because I wanted to keep the type consistent with that on the front cover, however in reducing the size too much I felt this would have made it slightly illegible in the typeface I had used. Instead, I will alter this by changing its weight rather than it's size, as suggested in feedback.

It was also suggested that the title would perhaps look better if it was not all in capitals to keep it consistent with the authors' name. This then needs to be positioned more accurately so that the title and authors name are in-line. Likewise with the body text on the back cover, this needs to be more centred so that there are equally-sized gaps on either side of the text.

Appeal to a contemporary readership?

In terms of it's appeal to a contemporary readership, the overall book cover design can be seen to do this due to its minimalistic design. Research into existing book covers for In Cold Blood showed that many designs purely make used of strong typography. The front cover of my design mainly uses type alongside the tips of Hickock and Perry's heads.

With many adult fiction and non-fiction books it is important to not give away too much about the book in the design of the covers in order to get the reader intrigued as to what the book is about and make them actually want to read it, rather than being able to work out what the book is about without even reading it. I feel my design does this effectively, as you want to know who these people are on the front and how they are relevant to the story.

Show a good understanding of the marketplace?

As well as being an adult non-fiction book, In Cold Blood can also be considered in the genre of crime thrillers. Readers of this genre want to be immediately spooked by the book cover design which will make them pick up the book to read. This means that cover must have elements of mystery, which can be seen communicated in my book cover design. This relates back to the idea that it is important to not give away too much about the book in the design of the covers in order to get the reader intrigued as to what the book is about and make them actually want to read it. For this reason, a minimalistic design can be seen to work for this genre of book and specific marketplace.

Have a point of difference from many other book covers it is competing against?

The design for spine gives my cover a point of difference from many other books, as typically not as much consideration is taken into the design of the spine of a book compared to the front cover, even though the spine is normally what you would see first on a bookshelf. However, for this reason the front cover may have been compromised. Specifically, for this competition, the front cover is what the judges will see first. Although the front cover keeps the element of mystery used throughout the whole book cover spread, the design may be what lets down the overall design.

As a refinement, it was suggested during feedback that perhaps stacking the images on top of each other with one eye of each person on the spine and then half of their faces on the front cover could liven up the front cover whilst still remaining true to the idea. Another idea was to add a small element of colour to the front cover, such as a stripe of red at the top of the page to represent the crime and blood of the victims when found.

To make the design more playful it was also suggested to play around with the positioning of the barcode, for instance, placing it over the prisoner numbers of Hickock and Perry. This would further play on the idea of their split personalities and their number acting as another part of this, with the barcode representing their belonging to a personal number, such as the book belongs to a specific and unique barcode.

OUGD406 - Studio Brief 01 - Final Interim Crit

OUGD406 - Studio Brief 01 - Final Design

The final design for this competition brief uses ideas taken from the book in terms of the characters. The spine and back cover are the main parts of this design idea in that the criminals, Perry Smith and Richard Hickock have only their eyes appearing on the spine, which was used as a point of difference in hope to make it stand out on the shelf if commercially published. It has been said that you can tell a lot about a person just from their eyes, which also highlights some of their distinctive features, such as Hickock’s slightly deformed face as a result of an automobile accident. The design uses this idea to convey mystery and force the viewer to pick up the book.

The idea was to also use elements of the story which may not be as apparent when reading the story but add extra details to it, such as the composition of the original booking photographs of Hickock and Smith. These were composed to portray them as ordinary people. The back cover shows this idea whereby they are both detached from their numbers, as their prisoner numbers can now almost be seen as another part of their split personalities.

As a result of this focus, the front cover is mostly typographic with only the tips of Hickock and Smith’s heads showing. The typeface used for the title is Bodoni Poster and the body copy uses Bodoni Book. This typeface felt suitable for the book, as it has clear links to the type style used on the original 1966 book cover for In Cold Blood which used both Pistilli and Bodoni. It’s bold weight and contrasting sharp serifs give it a personality similar to that of old newspaper headings, which is representational of the new publicity of the town of Holcomb, Kansas in local papers regarding the crime. It was decided to use this in all-caps in order to make it stand out further on the cover, being the main source of type.

The colours were kept fairly minimal to convey the overarching emotion and themes which take place in the book, which are quite grey and cold. The decision was made to not use many bold colours, as research into Truman Capote’s preferences in previous book covers was to keep the designs and colours as accurate to the story as possible, such as (if being used) darker shades of red and purple to convey the ‘old’ blood found at the crime scene, rather than bright red for ‘new’ blood.

The imagery was taken from the original booking form photographs of Hickock and Smith when they were arrested. These photographs would likely belong to the government or some form of archive system, therefore there could possibly be some copyright issues. These have been overcome through the few changes made to the original photographs and a copyright line will be added on the back cover before submission.

OUGD406 - Studio Brief 01 - Design Ideas

This first idea uses an image taken from the crime scene, depicting the road which led up to the Clutter family's home. This has been used duplicated across both the front, back and spine of the cover to convey mystery and intention. The elements of colour have been positioned in a similar format to that of the Marber grid, which Romek Marber designed specifically for Penguin Classic Crime books. It uses a similar shade of green taken from these original books and has been overlayed on top of the image. This makes the idea a bit more playful, whilst keeping links to it's genre and a wider context.

This idea uses an image of the Clutter family at the time of the crime, including Herb Clutter, his wife and children. The picture extends through to both the front and back cover with the spine interrupting the middle, representing the interruption Hickcock and Smith caused in the small town of Holcomb and the broken lives of the Clutter family. It uses elements of green in a similar format to the Marber grid, representing the traditional colour for Penguin classic crime books and Romek Marber who did a lot of work for this series of Penguin books. The use of type is consistent with the earliest book cover for In Cold Blood, with Bodoni's high contrasting elements representing the extremity of the crime.

This cover takes on the idea of overlaying Hickock and Smith’s eyes over the spine of the book. This has been done as a point of difference and to draw you into picking up the book so that the eyes of intent stop staring at you. The image repeated on the front and back cover is a boot print recovered from the crime scene which ultimately led to the arrest of Hickock and Smith. It has also been used to convey the blood split at the crime scene, in that the shape of the print could be interpreted as a blood drop. A green stripe has also been placed through the middle of the book design to add a small element of colour which makes the design more playful. This can be seen to represent the path of intent of Hickock and Smith in the robbery and murder of the Clutter family.

This idea uses an element in the story which describes the telephone lines as being cut. The type has been placed over this telephone pole to suggest disruption to the line. The image spreads out over the spine and continues onto the back cover. This has been done to further represent the disruption, as when the book is closed the telephone line is slightly bent to represent this interruption. However, this idea may work better if the line extends the opposite way, from the front cover onto the back and avoiding the spine.

The idea for this book cover was to detach both Hickock and Smith from their prisoner numbers to show how their numbers can act as another part of their personalities, whilst also representing Smith’s split personality and delusions of grandeur. Spreading the images across the cover meant that their eyes were placed over the spine. It is said that you can tell a lot about a person from their eyes and so these have been used on the spine to draw people into picking up the book when placed on a shelf and adds an element of 'thrill' or mystery to the cover. It also highlights some of their distinctive features, such as Hickock’s slightly disfigured head resulting from an automobile accident which makes them distinguishable as the criminals.

OUGD406 - Studio Brief 01 - Experiments

In the development of initial ideas, experiments in terms of colour, imagery and process were explored. These experiments look at the use of semi-transparent colour overlaid on top of imagery taken at the crime scene during investigation of the Clutter family murder. For these ideas and inspiration was taken from research into the Marber Grid and Classic Penguin Crime books, which use a similar aesthetic. These traditional book designs make use of a green colour, representational of the crime genre. Since In Cold Blood is based on a true crime, it was decided to experiment with this colour. Other experiments made use of an orange colour overlaid onto the same image of the path leading up to the Clutter family home, since it was discovered that this orange colour also has links to other classic Penguin book designs.

A similar aesthetic can be seen in this experiment, whereby the classic green colour has been limited to a shape. This shape comes from the boot print of one of the killers found at the crime scene. It was considered that this shape can also be representational of a blood spatter, reflecting the blood spilt at the scene and the green overlay of colour representing the colour of their blood in relation to the traditional colour for Penguin crime books.

Experimentation was also conducted through the use of more handmade processes to produce imagery. These experiments show exploration with contemporary hand-cut collage. These use two images taken from the scene of the crime at the time of investigation, one of the path leading up to the Clutter family home and one of the killers themselves. It was decided to cut circles through these images in order to represent one of the items stolen during the crime, which was a pair of binoculars. These circles represent the two eye holes found on binoculars, as well as representing the eyes of Hickock and Smith on the Clutter family in preparing for the crime. In these design experiments, the circles have also been flipped. This produces an interesting effect in manipulating the image and has been done so in order to represent how the Clutter family's lives were flipped upside down and the negative impacts their murder would have had on other family members, friends and the general community of their hometown of Holcomb, Kansas.

OUGD406 - Studio Brief 01 - Initial Idea Sketches

Taking elements of the story, these sketches reinterpret some of the scenes. For example, it was found at the crime scene that Hickock and Smith had cut the telephone lines. This would have been done so that the Clutter family could not call the police to make them aware of the crime taking place. The idea was to use the telephone lines as the main part of the design upon which the type will sit and extend onto the back cover to create connections between the front and back. When the book is opened, this connection is then broken representing the disconnected and cut telephone lines which were found at the crime scene.

Another idea involved using objects relevant to the story, such as the murder weapon and the possessions taken from the Clutter family home by Hickock and Smith, which included a small portable radio, a pair of binoculars and less than fifty dollars in cash. These would be used to represent one of the consequences of the crime, contrasting to the ten thousand dollars which were believed to be hidden in a safe by Herb Clutter. This idea would be experimented with using collage, inspired by DR.ME.

OUGD406 - Study Task 03 - Typographic Treatments

This first typographic treatment made use of a bespoke typeface created specifically for a previous brief. This typeface was designed to look similar to that of newspaper headlines in it’s contrasting stoke weights and serifs, which could be representational of the new publicity of Holcomb town in Kansas within the papers after the crime took place. It was suggested at the time that this typeface also had qualities suitable for use in crime and thriller novels, as the incredibly sharp serifs give it an element of ‘horror’. Both of these qualities are representational of some of the themes of In Cold Blood and so I have combined it with the thin weight of the telephone lines, which were cut during the crime.

The second typographic treatment also uses contrasting elements in terms of the size of type. For this idea I have enlarged the 'C' and the 'D' within the word 'cold' so that they surround the middle letters. This composition can be seen to represent Hickock and Smith closing in and invading the Clutter family home. The typeface used for this treatment was Helvetica, which was used in order to provide a more modern type style which would then appeal to a contemporary readership (an element required within the competition brief).

If this idea were to be further developed, the typeface could also be modified slightly in curving it’s edges so that the ‘o’ and ‘l’ were more consistent in shape. These could then potentially be cut and put into a collage-type style in order to represent the eyes of Hickock and Smith or the form of the binoculars which they stole from the home.

The third typographic treatment produced potentially for my final design uses a more traditional typeface than Helvetica. Bodoni was used on the original 1966 cover of In Cold Blood, alongside Pistilli, and so I decided to use this to convey the time in which the story took place. The bold weight and contrasting serifs make it suitable for old newspaper headlines and so again using idea which represent the new publicity of the town of Holcomb, Kansas in local papers regarding the crime.

Inspiration for the way the type has been split up into two colours was based on ideas taken from the Noughts and Crosses series of books by Malorie Blackman which uses a similar style. The word ‘blood’ in this final typographic treatment represents the darker side of the story. The split of the word represents the cutting of Herb Clutter’s throat whilst the sudden and contrasting colour change represents spilt blood at the crime scene. This immediately creates a sense of 'thrill' for the potential audience before they have even opened up the book.
The double ‘O’ in blood can also be interpreted in a way to look like a pair of eyes, through the split colours which show through the bowl of the 'O's and can be seen to represent the eyes of intent from Hickock and Smith.

OUGD406 - Study Task 02 - Book Cover Analysis

1. Neil Fujita, 1966 cover.

The idea behind this cover was to use a purple hatpin that stuck into the title of the book. This was used to suggest death. Originally this pin used a bright red colour, however, criticism from Capote himself suggested that he didn't think the colour was suitable as it wasn't new death that 'just happened'. The use of this purple pin accompanied by a black border was used to suggest the idea of a funeral. A lot of his work was pre-computer and so his design was comprised of illustrations using a quill pen, Indian inks and dyes.

The use of a darker purple works well in creating a more accurate representation of the dried blood which would have been found at the crime scene. Like many existing book covers for In Cold Blood, this design is mainly typographic. I feel that the use of type works well in conveying the genre of the book, as the sharp serifs represent one of the murder weapons as well as reflecting the design of the hatpin in it's thin weight.

2. Eric White (art direction by Greg Mollica), 2013.

This cover was designed specifically for the Modern Library's 2013 edition of In Cold Blood. Again, the design is quite minimalistic, making use of pure type and colour. The typeface Didoni was used for this specific cover, which is very similar to the first edition typefaces, Pistilli Roman and Bodoni. It's bold and contrasting line weights give it the characteristics of a newspaper headline, which has been used in conjunction with a ripped piece of newsprint. This works well to possibly reflect the torn lives of the Clutter family and the new publicity of Holcomb, Kansas in newspapers after the crime took place. The background colour works well to contrast with the newsprint image, however Capote may not agree with its use on the cover of this book, as it could be seen as too bright to convey an accurate reflection of the story and crime. Despite this, the colour is representational of the traditional orange colour used for Penguin Classics books and can almost be considered a homage to the books.

3. Andy Bridge, 2000 edition cover.

This cover was published for the year 2000 edition of In Cold Blood, designed by artist and illustrator, Andy Bridge. The cover shows a close-up image of a pistol gun, used to shoot the Clutter family by Hickock and Smith. Although used to convey the murder weapon, this can be seen to be slightly inaccurate of the story, as the murder weapon was found to be a knife and a shotgun, rather than a pistol. The small detailing on this gun may also have small hints to the story, as Perry Smith, who was prone to delusions of grandeur, was said to have a recurring vision or dream that a big bird would come down and carry him away. In addition, it could also be used to symbolise freedom of both the Clutter family, and Hickock and Smith.

The use of a dark red colour for the murder weapon can be considered to accurately represent the 'old' blood of the Clutter family found at the crime scene. However, it's use with a contrasting blue background does not appear to have much relevance to the story. By some it might be considered 'too bright' to describe the events and perhaps a darker colour would have suited the design better.

OUGD406 - Studio Brief 01 - Concept Rationale

Final Design Concept Rationale:

The composition of the original booking photos of Perry Smith and Richard Hickock were made to portray them as ordinary people. The back cover shows this idea with Smith and Hickock detached from their numbers to show how their numbers can act as another part of their personalities. I decided to lay the image of their faces over the spine onto the front cover so that their eyes are central down the spine. It is said that you can tell a lot about a person from their eyes and wanted to use these on the spine to draw people into picking up the book when placed on a shelf. It also highlights some of their distinctive features, such as Hickock's slightly disfigured head resulting from a previous accident.

OUGD406 - Study Task 01 - Key Events and List of Adjectives

List of adjectives which describe In Cold Blood:

1. Chilling
2. Gripping
3. Cold
4. Callous
5. Heartbreaking
6. Sorrowful
7. Thrilling
8. Truthful
9. Barbarous
10. Disillusioned

OUGD406 - Study Task 01 - Truman Capote

Truman Capote:

1.  Capote was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright and actor, many of whose short stories, novels and plays are recognised as literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's (1958) and the true crime novel In Cold Blood (1966). Many of his novels and plays have been adapted into films and television dramas. Capote earned most of his fame for his journalistic work, In Cold Blood, about the murder of a family in their Kansas farmland home, which he spent four years writing alongside his friend Harper Lee who wrote the 1960 novel, To Kill a Mockingbird.

2.  Capote and Lee were childhood friends, living next door when he was sent away by his mother to live with his aunts and cousins. Years later, Lee put Capote into her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, as the character of Dill Harris. In the period Capote and Lee were neighbours, Capote described feeling like "a spiritual orphan, like a turtle on its back".

''I was so different from everyone, so much more intelligent and sensitive and perceptive. I was having fifty perceptions a minute to everyone else's five. I always felt that nobody was going to understand me, going to understand what I felt about things. I guess that's why I started writing. At least on paper I could put down what I thought.''

3.  The ashes of Truman Capote were sold at an auction in September 2016, in Los Angeles for $43,750. These were kept in a carved Japanese wooden box, which belonged to the late Joanne Carson, who was good friends with Capote. It was said his ashes brought her "great comfort". Capote loved to create press opportunities during his lifetime and to read his name in the paper so putting his ashes up for auction was used as a way of honouring him and continuing his adventures.

4.  Capote had a recurring dream, which took place backstage at a theatre. He once told in an interview "I have a very important part to play. The only trouble is that I'm in a panic because I don't know my line... Finally, the moment comes. I walk onstage, but I just stumble about, mortified."

5.  During his early years, Capote lived with distant relatives in Alabama, one of which made him his own baby blanket. Capote carried this around with him even into his adulthood and reportedly even had the blanket on the day he died.

OUGD406 - Study Task 01 - Book Analysis

In Cold Blood, Truman Capote
Overview:

Genre: Adult non-fiction, crime thriller.

Early morning hours of November 15, 1959. Holcomb, Kansas State farmland.
Floyd Wells (former cellmate of Hickock and worker of Clutter) told Richard Hickock and Perry Smith of a safe at the farmhouse of Herb Clutter containing ten thousand dollars - plan: to leave no witnesses and start a new life in Mexico with the money.

Discovered there was no safe and found little of value - bound and gagged the Clutter family.
Smith (prone to violet acts in fits of rage) slit Herb Clutter's throat and shot him in the head. The others were also killed by a single gunshot to the head. Hickock and Smith left with a small portable radio, a pair of binoculars and less than fifty dollars in cash.

Hickock and Smith were identified as suspects and arrested in Las Vegas on December 30, 1959. Their trail lasted from March 22 to March 29, 1960 and were executed just after midnight on April 14, 1965.

Cover Copy:

"'Dick became convinced that Perry was a rarity, "a natural killer" - absolutely sane, but conscienceless, and capable of dealing, with or without motive, the coldest-blooded deathblows.'

On November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, a wealthy farmer, his wife and their two young children were found brutally murdered. Blood all over the walls, the telephone lines cut, and only a few dollars stolen. Heading up the investigation is Agent Al Dewey, but all he has are two footprints, four bodies, and a whole lot of questions.

Truman Capote's detailed reconstruction of the events and consequences of that fateful night, In Cold Blood is a chilling, gripping mix of journalistic skill and imaginative power."

Fig 1. Current Book Cover Design, 2017.