SB1 Crit Feedback

Rationale - left out with designs in critique (needs to be improved)

The use of black and white in the first design is pulling from the theme of good and evil coexisting together. The illustrations come from the Mockingbird theme as well as the use of flowers in the novel - Azaleas are a staple flower of the South and are symbolic of Miss Maudie. I wanted to find a symbol/theme that wasn’t as obvious as others so looked for something more obscure.

The typefaces used are Orator Std and Garamond, I put them together as I believe they compliment each other as well as the illustrations with their minimalist features.

Themes:

• The coexistence of good and evil
• Societal gender roles and conditioning
• Mockingbirds

Azaleas 

• Staple flower of the South
• Comes in various shades of pink
• Known for opening all their blossoms at once
• Very hardy; can grow in poor soil conditions

Miss Maudie ‘Miss Maudie hated her house: time spent indoors was time wasted. She was was a widow, a chameleon lady who worked in her flower beds in an old straw hat and mens overalls, but after her five o’clock bath she would appear on the porch and reign over the street in magisterial beauty’

• Miss Maudie fits in with the other women of Maycomb but she is not easily controlled by others. 
• She is stronger than most women in Maycomb
• She is opinionated and says what’s on her mind
• Despite the negative environment around her(racism) she remains positive 

The general feedback I received on this option was that it is the least successful, which I agree with and it makes sense as this was developed from my original idea however the two below came from this and are therefore improvements. 

Could try focusing on the flower and extending it across the front and back cover.

The layout of the type and colour boxes is contemporary and brings life to the old designs 

Use of typography is strong however the title could be in a larger size compared to the authors name, a long with the review. 

Try this design in black and white, may be more effective. 

Add the barcode. 

Swap the book title and authors name with the review text.

The typeface on the front cover compliments the floral design, think about using this typeface throughout the spread?

Takes on an original design from the typical bird image - consider getting rid of the bird on the back or perhaps incorporate it in the shape of the blurb text.

The use of black and white works well to produce contrast and simplicity - reflects the delicacy of the flowers as well as having reference to the presence of racism in the book.

The flowers are right to be more dominant than the bird, it is a good representation of rural life (the setting of the book)

Keep the spine white as it is easiest to read from a bookshelf and is in line with the simplicity of the design.

General feedback:

 The B in mockingbird shouldn't be bigger than the rest of the letters. 

The type used for the blurb could be a bit smaller, along with the width of the text box.

I agree with this suggestion and I'm going to try it out on the black and white cover, the text is far too big for the rest of the design - it looks bold and untidy.

The typeface should be consistent throughout.

I decided to use two different typefaces as I believed Orator Std would work best as a title font, with the serif font Garamond complimenting it for body text. This is consistent and all of the italics are in this typeface as well. Although I appreciate that some designs look better with just one typeface I believe two different to be acceptable and it works with my design.

The use of a bird is slightly cliche, the flower symbolism is a lot more subtle in relation to the story. 

Add splashes of pink to the design - relates to the colour and blooming of the flowers.