Book Cover Design #1

 For my first week of book cover design feature I decided to look at the design of my favorite book, ever. I read "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath when I was in 9th grade and fell in love with Plath's words and story of Esther Greenwood. I honestly felt like there was an author who truly felt and wrote what I was feeling throughout my teenage years. 

I've seen lots of cover art over the years for "The Bell Jar" but just last Christmas I received an updated copy with a more contemporary feel. The imagery of this book cover is very reflective of the story itself. The picture of the woman holding the umbrella, looking out over the city really speaks to the location of the novel and the emotional turmoil that the main character experiences. I also think the rain adds to the dreary and depression based theme. The blocks of color at first glance, at least for me, made the cover look happier. But after thinking about the placement and the different colors I realized that they create more of a chaotic and haphazard feel for the book. They're all different sizes, colors and exist sparsely throughout the cover. Overall the blocked colors donate more to the idea of insanity and the craziness the main character feels in the novel.

Last but certainly not least is the typography. The font itself is very clean and reminds me of the 1960s time period that the novel takes place in. I don't enjoy the placement of the font because the title and author are the same size and for me it creates and awkward space between the two. With the words "A Novel" in the middle I feel as though it shouldn't be placed directly in the middle of the book and be a bright red color. I find it sort of distracting compared to everything else going on on the cover. I think that if the designer had just utilized that exact font and perhaps had the title somewhat larger and the author smaller with no "a novel" in red and in the center, the book cover would have been very successful.

 These are some of the other covers from "The Bell Jar" designers past. I think most of them have decently resolved typography but lack in imagery that effectively communicates what the novel is about. The last cover on the right utilizes a beautiful typeface for the title but sadly ruined the cover by having the authors name in bubble gum pink at the very top, making it really distracting. 

In case you're curious about Sylvia Plath check out this short 6 part documentary on youtube.