This document provides details and requirements for designing a book cover for a Penguin Design Award competition. It includes examples of previous winning designs and notes key elements like centrally placed imagery, consistent title placement, separating elements while joining them, and using color schemes to set mood. Sketches and thumbnails of possible ideas for a new cover of "The Outsiders" are shown, focusing on a burning church. The chosen final design, color scheme, and font are explained as creating a dark, moody theme reflecting the story's focus on being apart from society.

1. Penguin Book Cover
Penguin Book Cover
By Jada Salih

2. The Brief
Design a book cover following a supplied
competition brief (The Penguin Design Award).
Then adapt this design into an A2 Poster,
advertising the re-launch of the book.
Following the requirements of the competition
brief you should aim to design a striking
cover design that is well executed, has an
imaginative content, an original
interpretation of the brief, a strong use of
typography and clearly places the book for its
market. While all elements of the jacket need
to work together as a cohesive whole, remember
that the front cover must be effective on its
own and be eye-catching within a crowded
bookshop setting and on screen for digital
retailers such as Amazon.

3. 2013 Puffin the front cover the
Winner
• On
toad is centrally
placed whilst on the
back cover his side
profile has been offset
in the left-hand third.
• An offset positioning
draws the viewer's eye
to the text wrapped
around the arm.
• The colour scheme
mirrors danger (red)
and themes associated
with prison clothing
(black and white
stripes) and dark times
(toad coloured black).

4. 2012 Puffin Winner
consistently applied in
• Titles has been
either the upper or
lower thirds of each
side.
• The main imagery
appears in the central
third across both
pages.
• A tree trunk has been
used to separate the
big bad wolf from the
children however, they
are joined by the use
of the tongue to serve
as a path on the back
cover.
• The colour scheme is
very dark with menacing
yellow eyes, making the

5. 2011 Puffin design uses woven
Winner
• This
•
•
•
•
greenery frames around its
content.
The elaborate nature of
its presentation provides
a fairyland feel.
The black behind the title
is inviting the viewer
into the depths of the
book.
There is an element of
warmth in the orange,
lilac and light green
colour scheme.
The emphasis of the word
'Giant' screams out from
the page as the designer
has chosen to use upper
case and increase the font
size to reflect the

6. Previous Outsiders
Covers

10. The Outsiders

11. Possible Ideas

12. Thumbnails

13. Visualisations

17. Chosen Design

18. Colour Scheme
Ideal for a
night time
setting.
Works well
for burning
church idea.
Ideal for a
day time
setting.

19. Font Face
This looks like
teenage doodling
Matches the theme
of being squeezed
out
Simple Sans
Serif matches
the era
Works for Greasers
- poor education =
poor writing
Looks like
teenage
handwriting.

20. Final Choices
I like this one best as it
with the brief requirement
cover up to date. It also
doodling which will appeal
more modern which fits
of bringing the new
has the feel of teenage
to this target market.
I have chosen this colour scheme as the black
represents the silhouette images, the dark blue
reflecting the night sky, the greys for the church
and the white for the writing to make it stand
out.

21. I have chosen this final design because I
create a dark moody theme that reflects a
feeling of being apart from society. The
church plays an important part in the story and
the gravestones represent the consequences for
many of the characters in the book.