Brief 8 : Competition Brief : Penguin

Brief

Design a new cover look for Emil and the Detectives to bring this classic to a new generation of readers. The design should ensure that this original and heart-warming story remains a must-read for every child.

Your cover design needs to include all the cover copy as supplied and be designed to the specified design template (B format, 198mm high x 129mm wide, spine width 12.5mm), incorporating the 'A PUFFIN BOOK' branding and typography shown within the downloadable PDF template.

Mandatories & Deliverables

We are looking for a striking cover design that is well executed, has an imaginative concept and clearly places the book for its market. The cover should encourage children to pick the book up and buy it for themselves and should also engage adults to want to buy it for them.

While all elements of the cover (front, back and spine) need to work together as a cohesive whole, remember that the front cover has to be able to work on its own, and to be eye-catching within a crowded bookshop setting as well as on screen at a reduced size for digital retailers.

The winning design will need to:

• Have an imaginative concept and original interpretation of the brief
• Be competently executed with strong use of typography
• Appeal to the broadest possible audience for the book
• Show a good understanding of the marketplace
• Have a point of difference from the many other book covers it is competing against
• Be able to sit on the shelves of a supermarket or ebook store as easily as it sits on those of more traditional bookshops.

Copyright must be cleared for all images used in your cover design.

Target Audience

Young children of ages 6+ but it must also be a design that parents would also pick up to buy for their children.

Blurb

‘After him! After him!' 

Emil is excited to be going on a train all by himself, with money for his grandmother safely tucked into his pocket. But a strange man wearing a bowler hat is acting mysteriously, and soon Emil starts to feel sleepy… 

The next thing he knows the man – and the money – have gone! Emil is determined to get it back and teams up with a gang of young detectives in a hair-raising chase across the city to catch the thief. 

When published, Emil and the Detectives was one of the very first child detective stories, and original in that it was set in a contemporary Berlin rather than in a fantasy world. Full of unforgettable characters, it has delighted children for over eighty years.

Marketplace Research

Already Existing Emil and the Detectives Book Cover Designs
It was appropriate to gather research on previous cover designs for this particular book. From these images, it was clear to see that yellow and blue have been used in various shades. This could be because these colours have been proven to be "...calming, soothing, 'positive' and attractive colours" which are also utilised when helping children with reading difficulties such as dyslexia. It is also suggested that "...children prone to tantrums and other behavioural problems may benefit from spending time in a blue environment" due to these influenced soothing and relaxing feelings. Blue may have also been chosen because of the link to "Emil's dark blue Sunday suit".

 In addition to the colour, the covers are mostly image based to attract the intended audience, children and their parents, to but the book because of their interesting visuals.

Colour Psychology Article 1
School Mental Health Article
Harvard Health Books: Colour Psychology Article

Various German Children's Book Cover Designs
These book covers are also very heavily illustrated. The imagery attracts the children, in addition to giving them an insight into what the book will be about and the characters featured. As for the parents, the book appears more fun and interactive, something which they would enjoy reading to their child.

Top Uk Children's Books

Similar to the previous research, these too are rather illustration based whilst also featuring bold type.

Initial Ideas

As the main plot of the story is that a large group of children who are 'private detectives' help the Emil to find the thief, Herr Grundeis, a fully grown man, it was appropriate to use these characters on the cover. The child could then choose a favourite character and see how peoples faces and features vary. This variation is important as to, even subconsciously, show that not everyone looks the same and yet is still important.

 When looking at the already existing Emil and the Detectives Book Cover Designs, they are all illustrated in a rough way as to appear friendly and child like, providing a familiar design for the intended, young audience. This kind of illustration is very appropriate for these reasons. The colours are bold and either blue or yellow. this will be considered.

Emerging from Friedrichstrasse station, Rosen bumps into a bronze statue, which serves as a reminder of how swiftly the world discovered by the 11-year-old Emil was brought to a halt, with Hitler's rise to power in 1933. One side features Jewish children who escaped Nazi Germany on the Kinder transport, carrying suitcases and a teddy bear. The other side depicts children wearing the yellow star of David, travelling to their deaths.

This link to the Jewish star of David is most likely why yellow was used, in addition to its psychological aids.

 Furthermore, the covers used for general German books at this time were roughly illustrated, yet have a victorian feel to them because of their muted colours, bar a few brightly coloured backgrounds (yellow and blue). Although these colours and illustrations are beautiful, bold bright colours are more attractive to children and so the most appropriate to use.

Sketches

Gustav assembles 24 local children who call themselves "the detectives".

 

Character Sketches

After reading through the book, there are 26 children in total, in addition to the children, the thief or "the man in the hat", "a bowler hat", will also be sketched out as he is another of the main characters. This will allow the cover to speak for itself. 
All of the children have different features, using the selected ones above but in variations; changing shapes and sizes.. The idea behind creating a range of sketches, is to allow the child to relate to one of the drawings themselves. Familiarity is something that children feel comfortable with. It is also a good selling point, for example, if a child see's that one of the characters look like themselves/a friend etc they are more likely to buy it because of this 'quirk'/familiarity.

 The variation of the sketches makes the idea that a child would identify with one of them much more likely.

Digital Renders

Digitally Rendered Character Sketches

Experiments & Design Decisions

 

Cover Layout

The book stands portrait and so this is an appropriate way to set the illustrations out. In addition to this, the grid like layout reflects how well organised the children are for most of the story. Each character is clear to see, which is essential and appropriate when designing for children, the information needs to be at hand and easy to understand and absorb.

The colour was added freehand in Illustrator meaning that it isn't always applied within the lines. This was inspiration taken from seeing how children draw and colour in which also provides something familiar for them.

 This addition of colour has given the illustrations a more realistic and fun aesthetic. Although this would not have been the case if this story were true because Germany at that time was still at war, segregating races and religions, the varied skin tones, facial features and hair colour to show not everyone is the same- which is almost like a life lesson for the child, that they should be kind to everyone and treat them the same, no matter their race, gender or religion. It is also interactive as children will choose who they want to be/who they look like. The drawings are not named as each child will imagine the characters differently and usually relate the character to themselves in some way. The array of various illustrations provided, allow for this.

Using the PDF of the book cover provided with the brief, this is the mock up of the design shown above.

As for the typeface, Century Schoolbook was chosen as it is a serif typeface which is said to be easier to read when used in print, specially for children. The typeface also has a small relationship with the story as it was also created in the 1930's along with the book itself.

 Although it seems like a typeface which would be used on a book intended for an older audience, it is important to consider the parent who will most likely be reading this book. In this way, the illustrations are for the cild whilst the text is for the parent.

 At age 6 the child will be going to/applying to schools where reading is mandatory. This book will prepare them for this sep by using type that is a little more mature than that seen on other children's books.

Colour Experiments

Using the inspiration gathered throughout, it was essential to experiment with colour variations in order to find the most appropriate and aesthetically pleasing choice. A selection of blues, yellows and oranges were chosen as inspired by the research and story itself.

Final Design

This yellow/orange background is warm, exciting, bright and cheery. This colour is "...associated with happiness and motivation. Soft, subtle yellows promote concentration while brighter shades can stimulate the memory". These emotions will be associated with not only this book but with the activity of reading in general hopefully creating a more enjoyable experience. It has overall positive connotations and relevant links with the text in the book itself (the star of David, the money/coins and the bronze statue).

The images, type and other design aspects are also clear to see/read in comparison to the other colour variations.

Colour Psychology Article 1
School Mental Health Article

Harvard Health Books: Colour Psychology Article

Mock Up's

Mock of Book on E-store/App Store

Book Cover as Poster/Advertisement

  

Book in Context

 

Book & Poster/Advertisement in Context

Evaluation

This design has updated a classic Penguin cover design through combining illustration and typography in such a way that presents itself with a new and modern aesthetic, with a twist of tradition.

The concept that was chosen was a more obvious illustrative one. The main idea was to provide a 'lesson' almost to the young, easily influenced readers that not everyone is the same and yet we should all get along and help one another. Presenting the characters in various ways through the diversity of facial features along with hair and skin colour strengthens this idea.
Another part to this well thought and strong concept was to allow the reader to relate to the character/s. Using the combination of appearance, it is more likely that a child would identify with a 'favourite' illustration and even recognise themselves within one, providing familiarity, 'Appealing to the broadest possible audience for the book' as stated in the mandatory deliverables.
The illustrations are not named as to allow the reader to imagine each character in a different way, still allowing them to use their imagination in this way.
Furthermore, the parents would hopefully see that this book promotes diversity and acceptance and purchase this book for the child. Teaching a young person these lessons early on is vital in an ever changing and adapting world.

Colour-wise, the yellow/orange background ensures that the connotations of the heartwarming story within is apparent and links back to some of the older covers for this book in addition to the things written within the book, such as the star of David and the golden statue. It is familiar and friendly in this way. The colour choice and illustrations themselves are 'rough', linking back with the examples within the research of old German children's books, providing a link to the stories origin.

The original story is still clear as the cover features children, which usually means connotes mischievous fun and adventure. It also provides an interactive nature, allowing the child to choose a character whom they like, imagining themselves within the book. In addition to this, the variation of illustrations shows that everyone is equal which can be seen as a life lesson. This in turn would engage not only the children but their parents/family to purchase it over any fantasy or fiction stories. This is something that stands out against other children's book covers.

The font and back cover work together cohesively whilst also allowing the cover to also work alone, as shown within the poster and book cover mock up above. The poster would be used as an advertisement, especially within book stores. The illustrations are all very high quality and so would work on small or large scale, as required from the brief.
In reference to typography, Century Schoolbook was chosen purely because of its ease to read in print, especially for younger audiences. In addition it was also created round the same time that the book was written, this was rather fitting and appropriate.

Overall, the designs have been inspired by the old covers, the story itself and the characters within the book. Through having a strong and appropriately influenced concept, always keeping the audience/s in mind, an interesting, aesthetically pleasing product was created which has succeeded to meet the deliverables and mandatory objectives.