OUGD503 - Penguin Student Design Award - Former Winners

Adult non-fiction:

Research into former winning designs for this competition brief was the initial point of call in terms of contextual references since these are good examples of what design elements appeal to the judges more and what they look for in winning designs.

2017's adult non-fiction award winner was for the book ' In Cold Blood'. The design takes on a more illustrative approach to working with the only digital elements being the main use of type and the production of cover in bringing individual elements together. The minimalistic approach effectively works to convey an uneasy tone, representative of the themes of the book. An image of a telephone line has been used to also represent themes presented within the book, in this instance, using the fact that the telephone lines were cut so that the victims of the story could not call for help. This shows how themes within the book have been the main point of inspiration in the design process, an important aspect which should be taken into consideration in my own designs that helps the audience make quick judgements about whether or not they want to read the book or not, and gives them an initial sense of the book.

Adult non-fiction winner 2017.

Adult non-fiction winner 2016.

Adult fiction:

In analysing the winning designs for the adult fiction awards, similar ideas were found into how information is presented, many of these using bespoke or handwritten typefaces alongside hand-drawn illustrations. The minimalistic designs ensuring information is presented clearly and that designs are not compromised from becoming too complex.

Adult fiction winner 2017.

Adult fiction winner 2016.

Many of the former winners clearly show consideration for the judges criteria within their designs, the one which is most clearly communicated and favoured in many of these designs is a strong use of typography. In analysing other winning designs, it was found that there is also a strong attraction to more hand-drawn, illustrative approaches to design, which pairs the use of typography with clever imagery composed in simplistic and interesting ways. Such ideas will be taken into consideration when designing the cover for 'A Brief History of Time' since these former winners show the importance of producing designs which stick to a specific brief and set of criteria. Both handwritten and digital typography shall be experimented with across the covers, since there seemed to be a huge emphasis on this element of design.