DAILY COVER REDESIGNS
A personal project prompted by my love of books and cover designs. In my spare time, I redesign a book cover for a recent read or an old favorite. This is an ongoing project and the page will continue to be updated!
IN COLD BLOOD by TRUMAN CAPOTE
I began with covers for books studied in my recent “True Crime” class. Vintage International’s paperback edition of In Cold Blood by Truman Capote stood out for it’s elegant and sophisticated look among other overtly pulpy cover designs of the “True Crime” genre.
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Taking great inspiration from that design, knowing that it worked, I did an exercise in redesigning the cover in an attempt to elevate the overused, in-your-face, techniques of the genre. Keeping the simplicity and calmness of the original by using a landscape photo (photo by Matthew Smith), the photo is edited in monochrome red in homage to the genre. I chose to flip the photo upside down in reference to the story and the effect of the crime on the small, normally quiet town.
THE STRANGER BESIDE ME by ANN RULE
In a move away from exercise to full redesign, I tackled the cover for Ann Rule’s The Stranger Beside Me. My edition was Gallery Books’ 2009 paperback. While slightly more elevated from editions past, it wasn’t without the overproduced morbid photograph serving as the cover’s background. My goal with this redesign was to highlight the interaction between Ted Bundy and Ann Rule through the use of their letter exchanges as the background, what I found to be the most intriguing aspect of the book.
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I began with covers for books studied in my recent “True Crime” class. Vintage International’s paperback edition of In Cold Blood by Truman Capote stood out for it’s elegant and sophisticated look among other overtly pulpy cover designs of the “True Crime” genre.
Taking great inspiration from that design, knowing that it worked, I did an exercise in redesigning the cover in an attempt to elevate the overused, in-your-face, techniques of the genre. Keeping the simplicity and calmness of the original by using a landscape photo (photo by Matthew Smith), the photo is edited in monochrome red in homage to the genre. I chose to flip the photo upside down in reference to the story and the effect of the crime on the small, normally quiet town.
THE STRANGER BESIDE ME by ANN RULE
In a move away from exercise to full redesign, I tackled the cover for Ann Rule’s The Stranger Beside Me. My edition was Gallery Books’ 2009 paperback. While slightly more elevated from editions past, it wasn’t without the overproduced morbid photograph serving as the cover’s background. My goal with this redesign was to highlight the interaction between Ted Bundy and Ann Rule through the use of their letter exchanges as the background, what I found to be the most intriguing aspect of the book.
