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.