OUGD503 - Penguin Student Design Award - Book Cover Analysis

Further research was conducted into already existing cover designs for 'A Brief History of Time' since one of the main judging criteria is that the book cover design should break boundaries in the way that the book did when it was first published in 1988. The design should also feel timeless in representing this, as well as appealing to a whole new generation of readers.

One recurring element which was found in many existing designs for this book was the use of photography, with much of this being representative of the author Stephen Hawking himself through portrait shots. In this sense, the designs can be seen as celebratory in nature in regards to the impressive work of Hawking. This use of photography was also found to be paired with strong typography, typically making use of bold, sans-serif typefaces which fill up the rest of the surrounding space.

In contrast, other later editions of the book showed the use of more traditional serif typefaces in order to present the history of the theories, theories which can be considered as timeless since they present universal facts of how things in the world and space work. This use of typography was mostly found to be paired with more illustrative imagery which represent diagrams and other such elements found within the book.

Although this approach has clearly been taken to convey the timeless traditions of the book and theories, it was thought that this made the book seem more historical and complex. The brief states that designs should not look like an ordinary textbook you would read at school and it was thought that this approach is borderline on the way.