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.