I have decided to look at designing the book covers now instead of doing another quote because, according to my weekly timetable, I should finish the book covers by the next two weeks. Another reason is that if I do go and do another quote, I would become so absorbed by it that the covers will be left at the last minute so the design wouldn't be as good because it would've been rushed.
I am a bit unsure what kind of typographic style to go for for the book covers so I looked back at the Oxford Literary Festival website. The website is the best place for me to gather information as I haven't seen it advertised elsewhere. I have briefly looked at it right at the beginning of the project [here] but haven't really analysed the aesthetics.
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| screenshots taken from http://oxfordliteraryfestival.org/ |
Typography
When I visited the website this time I mainly concentrated on the type they've used, and I can see that they favour serif typefaces. Even the smaller pieces of text is done with the serif font, and it appears that they just used the one but in different techniques - bold, italic, etc - to make it look like there's a variation.
The serif font is softened slightly by having smooth curves and very short serifs, instead of the usual hairline serifs that are showcased in high-end magazines and newspapers. This sets a slightly friendlier tone to the website. This could be due to readability as well because it would be harder to read bigger chunks of text is the type had longer, thinner serifs. The letters in some of the headlines are really close together - so they have small kerning - which wouldn't be possible if they used a more 'serif' serif font.
Colour Scheme
They have used the 'traditional' colour scheme, black and white, for the whole of their website and the only spots of colour are shown in the photographs and logos of sponsoring companies. Even the children's section is done in black and white with coloured headlines and photographs.
These coloured headlines are normally muted which diminishes the childish appearance that colourful websites brings. This also means that the website isn't overrun by colours because they are in soft shades which blends nicely with the white background.
Location
I believe that the location itself is very important for the event. Oxford University is ranked as one of the top universities in England (as shown here) which means that the book festival is aimed for serious literary enthusiasts who know exactly what they are talking about in terms of literature.
Conclusion:
The above aspects have shown me that Oxford Literary Festival portrays a very traditional appearance with it's black and white colour scheme and serif font. It hints at an middle to upperclass audience especially when they use terms such as "Sheldonian Events"(possibly named after the Sheldonian theatre) and the fact that it isn't advertised in public media. I wouldn't have known of this literary festival had I not searched for it in Google, and I only saw a tiny snippet of a poster within a newspaper article.
Even in this small advertisement they have used a minimal amount of colour and a serif typeface. The even is called "FTWEEKEND" but it is the Oxford Literary Festival as this year it is sponsored by FTWeekend.
The illustration/photomanipulation is also kept at a minimal amount of decoration so the advertisement has an overall clean and professional appearance. There is plenty of white space for the elements to breathe, although there isn't a lot of information in terms of where the event is hosted as only the website URL is provided.
From this research I have gathered I will be producing a book cover design that holds a very traditional appearance, most possibly with a script typeface or serif, with only a slight hint of colour. I am glad that I have analysed the website because I am now able to produce a book cover that portrays a similar appearance to it in order to create a connection between my book and the event.
If there were one thing I would do differently is that I would've done this analysis a lot sooner, probably at the very start of this project, although I am glad that all of my designs are done in black and white. The only colour piece is the one I did for Dr. Seuss although I think that is acceptable because it is very Dr-Seuss-style.
My next step is to have a look at some 'classic' book covers such as Penguin classics as well as poetry books and typography books.
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