Assorted Book Covers
In this project I decided to reimagine the covers of The Hunger Games Trilogy in the style of Russian Constructivism. I was particularly intrigued by the idea of propaganda, and how Katniss evolves throughout the books. In Book One she is a propaganda tool of the Capitol, in Book Two she becomes a symbol for the Revolution/District 13, and in Book Three she finally takes her own agency back, specifically when she shoots the arrow for herself at the end of the book. In all three covers I take this symbolism and tie it together with the hallmarks of constructivism such as blocky imagery, radial and rectangular shapes, and red, orange, and yellow.
I decided to create my own take on the book cover to show what I might have done differently if I was the one designing it by trying to incorporate a different style. I specifically brought in elements of Pop Art, specifically the works of Roy Lichtenstein, in creating a cover that felt like it was out of a comic book. I wanted to lean into the cheesy superhero feel of the book that emphasizes and satirizes many common tropes, and also focus on the young adult audience that it is catering towards. I specifically chose two fonts that captured the comic feel, Helsinki and BadaBoom BB, and I used halftones to create a shading effect, emphasizing the lightning and explosive effects found in Pop Art.
The Siren by Kiera Cass is one of my favorite novels, and I wanted to explore a darker tone to the more romantic cover that it has, and explore a photographic approach. For the title typography, I wanted the words to feel like they were fading away into the water to emphasize the death present in the book, and to compliment the picture of the main character's death in the water. For the author's name, I needed to make it fit in with the rest of the imagery without compromising its readability, so I came up with the middle ground of a serif font with a light color and a drop shadow so that it was still legible against the background.