OUGD603 - Penguin Student Design Award (Norwegian Wood) - Visual Research and Further Ideas

As a form of inspiration, it was decided to research the types of design which were present during the 1960's, the time in which the book Norwegian Wood is set. One of these styles of art and design was Pop Art, an art movement which drew inspiration from sources in popular and commercial culture and aimed to present challenges to the traditions of fine art. Characteristics of work within this movement were found to include the use of bold blocks of colour, half-toned elements to create detail within this, and styles which could typically be associated with comic book art. Roy Lichtenstein's work was of particular inspiration within this.

It was considered that the use of this style could potentially create simplistic, bold imagery and type if utilised within the book cover design which would make the design stand out and give it a point of difference from other entries, as well as the style of design relating directly to the time in which the story is set, which would accurately convey parts of the narrative.

Pop Art, Roy Lichtenstein mood board.

Rough sketches were drawn out from this visual research, exploring how different elements of the story and initial ideas could be conveyed through this style of design. For instance, using a white halftone on the jar to give it the impression of transparency or dimension in its shine, creating a scene out of a mixture of objects related to the story in this pop art style to give it almost a surrealist element, and utilising human features, as a lot of Lichtenstein's work does, to potentially give the design a more personal element relating to the characters which could be stretched across the whole spread.