OUGD603 - Penguin Student Design Award - Initial Idea Sketches

One of the things taken from the book which was of particular interest to me was the use of forest and woodland settings throughout the story, this of which has formed the main basis for some of my initial ideas. One idea was to place imagery of the pine forest outside Naoko's sanatorium within a circle, the circle representing Japan's rising sun flag and the political aspect with surrounds the story. This has been sketched out in a few different variations, another being to situate an image of the sanatorium within the mountain forests into this circle to also represent the underlying theme of mental health and potentially intrigue new readers into wondering what this odd building is found alone within the mountains. A third variation was to place the forest and/or meadow setting Watanabe describes at the start of the story within a smaller circle on the front cover and pair this with imagery of two red birds 'leaping into the meadow' that Watanabe also describes as seeing. This idea of flying birds can also be used to represent the freedom of Naoko from her illness as she passes away.

Another thing of interest was that each time Naoko requested her roommate Reiko to play 'Norwegian Wood' on guitar she had to place 100 yen into a glass jar. The idea was to place a forest setting within a sealed glass jar, literally putting the song into the jar itself, also signifying Naoko's bottled feelings and feelings of being alone or 'trapped' by her illness.

A different variation of this was sketched, focusing on the opposite of the first, visualising an open jar with a red bird (one that Watanabe describes in the book) flying out, symbolising Naoko's freedom from her illness after her death. This also links to the full name of Naoko's favourite song and title of the book being 'Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)'. In this variation, the open lid has been placed on the back cover to add an element which links both the back and front covers.

For the back cover designs, it was thought that text could be placed into rough squared blocks representing Naoko's and Watanabe's constant letters to each other whilst they are apart. Or, linking to the ideas based around the rising sun flag, the text could be placed in a circle, reflecting the circular design on the front cover.

Typographic Treatments:
One of the main aspects taken from research into what appeals to the judges the most is the use of typography, therefore it was decided to spend some time experimenting with and producing various typographic treatments I could potentially use in my final design.

My first initial ideas for these typographic treatments was to experiment with extending different letterforms in connecting and enclosing letters, using the most prominent vertical strokes to represent the trunks of pine trees and forest settings as described throughout the book. For these ideas, I have purposefully made the type quite thin in order to work more effectively with this idea of pine tree trunks which tend to be thinner and taller than other trees. This was also thought to have a definite link to the title of the book in the use of the word 'wood'.

Other ideas use this same extending of letterforms, however instead to represent the political aspect of the story, with the stroke of the 'I' acting as a flag pole with the actual flag enclosing the remaining letters of the title. This idea was based on a part of the story where the flag would be raised every morning at Watanabe's university dormitory and the student protests around this.

In addition, it was also thought to potentially focus on some of the characters of the story, particularly Naoko whom the story mainly centres around as described from Watanabe's point of view. These ideas focused on the more sensitive themes of death and loss in relation to Naoko, with one idea being to place the title of the book within a ripped piece of paper which Naoko left her note to Reiko on before leaving the sanatorium to end her life. It was thought this could then be paired with an image of her blue nightdress in which she left in. Another idea concerning this nightdress was to make it a part of the title itself, going back to extending letterforms, using the 'I' as a tree trunk in which an image of Naoko's nightdress is attached seemingly blowing in the wind to represent her hanging herself in the forest, as well as her links to the book's title itself.

Other ideas experiment with placing the title within a handmade placard typically found at protests to represent the student protests within the story, as well as placing this title within a label on a glass jar to represent the jar in which Reiko made Naoko place 100 yen into each time she requested to hear 'Norwegian Wood' on the guitar.

OUGD603 - Penguin Student Design Award - Book Cover Analysis

Another initial point of call for research was to look at and analyse existing cover designs for 'Norwegian Wood' to find out what has already been done in helping me to produce an original and imaginative design, which appeals to a new generation of readers as the brief specifies.

The first edition of the book kept a two-volume division between the original Japanese version and its colour scheme. The first volume had a simple red cover with green type, whereas the second edition had a simple green cover, with red type, which was continued through to the English translated editions in order to honour the original versions of the book. These first cover designs were kept incredibly minimalistic, using a traditional serif typeface, perhaps to represent the time in which the story was set. The different colour schemes could also be seen as representing other small elements within the book, such as the colour red in the Japanese culture and green in symbolising the forest scenes present in the story.

The newest edition of the book also has a fairly minimalistic design, however with the addition of the use of simple imagery. The red cover could be seen as a homage to the original first edition of the novel, as well as working with the white circle in the centre of the cover as an inverted representation of the Japanese rising sun flag, highlighting the political aspect of the story. This cover design I feel is particularly clever in that the imagery within the circle could be interpreted in a number of different ways. In one way, the black lines could be seen as the legs of three of the main characters, with the most prominent ones being that of narrator Toru Watanabe, and the other ones as characters Naoko and Midori with whom Watanabe is torn between. However, in another way, these images could also be seen as trees representing the forest scenes presented in the story with their 'shadows lengthening at dusk' as also described in the beginning chapter.

Other cover designs take on a more photographic approach, presenting images of what could be character Naoko in the way in which she is presented. Such images tend to be paired with the colour white, perhaps symbolising the colour associated with hospitals and therefore touching on the themes of mental illness, death and loss within the story, whilst perhaps also representing her innocence as a character.

The brief states that the author's writing is 'vivid, dazzling, experimental and imaginative' and that the cover design should reflect this, whilst also appealing to a new generation of readers and avoiding obvious cliches. Controversially, I feel as if the words 'vivid' and 'dazzling' do not reflect the themes of the story well since the story touches on sensitive themes of mental health, death, loss, sex and relationships which I feel should not be glorified through a 'dazzling' design. However, this means the brief will prove to be a good challenge in attempting to reflect this is an appropriate way, focusing more on making the design experimental and imaginative.

OUGD603 - Penguin Student Design Award - Former Adult Fiction Prize Winners

Before designing, it was thought that research into former winning designs should be conducted and analysed as an initial point of call in beginning to understand what the design elements appeal to the judges more and what they typically look for in winning designs.

Last year's adult fiction prize was for the book 'Animal Farm' by George Orwell. This winning entry is very minimalistic in its design, in terms of both colour and image. The design uses flat, symbolic images as a reference to the story's main characters through the visualisation of a pigs snout. Because of this simplistic image, this means that the typographic elements stand out also as a main part of the design, through the use of a bold, sans-serif typeface, and the use of a dark, stone-like textured background was said by the designer to represent the brutalist style often associated with communist architecture. Judges comments on this design referred particularly to the minimalistic style of the design also, describing it as 'bold, confident and representatively strong', suggesting that judges are looking for 'confident' designs which simply and clearly represent what the book is about, whilst also showing a strong appeal to the use of typography.

2017's adult fiction prize was for the book 'To Kill A Mockingbird' by Harper Lee. This winning entry is, in my opinion, very clever in its design. The front cover is dominated by an illustration of a hand, in which sits the author's name and title of the book, which is then transparently reflected on the back cover as if a print of the hand itself. Like the previous year's winning design, this entry has a strong use of typography which judges are particularly keen on through the use of a bespoke, handwritten-style typeface. The design can also be said to present an original interpretation of the brief, as stated in the brief's design consideration, which avoids representing the more obvious elements of the story and therefore gives the design a clear point of difference.

2016's adult fiction prize was for the book 'A Clockwork Orange' by Anthony Burgess. This winning entry focuses specifically on the language used within the book, again avoiding obvious cliches such as the use of a clockwork cogs or an orange within the main elements of design. Within this list of words and their meanings, the title of the book is uncovered. This use of type is paired with a simple, block coloured background as to not overpower the use of type and make the design too complicated, which would then reduce its effectiveness and impact.

From looking at these previous winning entries for the adult fiction prize category, all designs have a clear point of difference which makes them stand out from other designs, in avoiding visualising the obvious and other cliches. In addition, all these designs have a strong use of typography, which seems to appeal to the judges the most, whether this be simplistic, bold typography or more complicated, bespoke typefaces. Taking this into consideration then, it is important that my own entry is clever in its design, using an imaginative and experimental concept which should reflect the author's writing.

OUGD603 - Penguin Student Design Award - Book Research (Norwegian Wood)

NORWEGIAN WOOD:

The book, Norwegian Wood, is set in late 1960's Tokyo when Japanese students were protesting against the established order, which serves as a backdrop to the story and focuses on the main character, Toru Watanabe, looking back on his days as a university student. The story touches on elements of mental health, death and loss, as well as sex and relationships. Whilst reading the book, key and interesting elements were noted down, alongside brief initial design ideas which came from this reading.

Interesting and key elements of the book:

'The meadow, washed clean of summer's dust by days of gentle rain, the mountains wore a deep, brilliant green, fronds of head-high grasses swaying, one long streak of cloud hung pasted across a dome of frozen blue'...'We saw only two bright red birds leap startled from the centre of the meadow and dart into the woods'.

Naoko's camel hair coat.

- attached to trees in the woods, blowing in the wind in the meadow.

Naoko's description of the well (pg.5)

Pine Forest.

'It takes time, though, for Naoko's face to appear. And as the years have passed, the time has grown longer. Like shadows lengthening at dusk'... 'Shadows swallowed up in darkness'.

Flag of the rising sun.

- look at the political aspect of the book, the raising of the flag at the dormitory each morning, protest, propaganda materials.

- back cover idea - have the text typeset into a circle to represent the rising sun flag and the political background aspect of the story.

- front cover idea - use a circle to represent the rising sun flag, within the circle place a scene of the meadow or forest that Naoko and Watanabe walk through, outside the circle have imagery of two red birds as if 'leaping into the meadow' described by Watanabe at the start of the book.

Ami Hostel (Naoko's sanatorium) situated in the woodlands of the mountains.

100 yen in a jar every time Naoko requests Reiko to play 'Norwegian Wood' on guitar.

- place a scene of the meadow, woodlands or sanatorium in a glass jar to symbolise the bottled feelings of both Naoko and Watanabe, to symbolise the mental health aspects of the book.

Naoko and Reiko's yellow raincapes.

Naoko's blue nightdress - 'Death exists, not as the opposite but as a part of life'.

- blue nightdress hanging by rope in the trees of the forest outside the sanatorium, represent Naoko's death and her lingering memories (from Watanabe).