DYNAMIC
In the catcher in the Rye Holden escapes to the world of New York, throughout the novel there are many flashbacks to his childhood and other events in his past. The story does not seem to have a traditional beginning middle and end. The novel jumps backward and forwards to significant episodes in Holden’s past and present life. The cover represents this theme of motion and confusing going on in Holdens’ life.
In the design I wanted to convey the act of motion, I believe I have done this by using layers upon layers of text in the font Viva with the back text blurred to emphasise movement.
The typeface Viva gives the background an original look and empathises movement by the typeface itself with various lines throughout each letter.
I decided to use a contemporary typeface for the title and author, as I did not want to show the dynamic typeface through these elements, as I would ruin the look and feel of my design. The type I choose for this was Futura as it was a strong contemporary font that would compliment Viva.
CLASSIC
In the novel the catcher and the rye Holden refers to the ducks and where to fly away to in winter this symbolises Holdens innocence and insecurities of the world. I have used silhouette shapes of ducks flying on the front cover to represent this theme in the book.
When researching the meaning of this term I found classic meant ‘over a period of time has become the highest quality and outstanding of its kind/of a simple elegant style not greatly subject to changes in faction’ (dictionary.com). I also looked at several novels from the past and present. I decided that I wanted something very simple plain and elegant to represent this style.
I read through the book “Just my Type, by Simon Garfield” which suggested Bembo, Bondi and Garamond are the most common classic typefaces. For my book cover design I played with these typefaces and found Garamond was the best typeface that suited my design.
MODERN
The catcher in the Rye is a Modern twentieth century novel, although it has many links with Western civilisation the central idea of the novel is that the main character is on a journey. Holden’s journey does not involve the traditional sleighing of dragons or rescuing the princess, Holden’s journey is to find his innocence and sense of moral values.
“He Is not like a traditional hero but rather an anti-hero, a type of character commonly found in twentieth-century fiction” (York Notes, The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger)
For the design cover I have used a modern colour combination, which seems to be popular in this day and age. I found it quite hard to allocate a particular ‘modern’ style as I believe every body uses styles from every era with a twist to it. But found that mixed media and bright colours seemed to be a trend of today. This is why I chose to find a tutorial and follow it to come up with a modern image of something that designers would use today.
I have used the rule of thirds to create my design and the type I have used is called Eurofurence light as when researching modern typefaces I found that this style was common for modern styles. I found that there was some outlandish fonts but also a lot of contemporary typefaces where used as well for modern design I think that this typeface had both. I found this font on dafont.com in modern themes.
RETRO:
RETRO:
The Catcher in the Rye sets the novel in a real city with recognisable landmarks and building which adds to the sense of realism and as a reader when can track Holden’s steps and feel as though we are there with him. My book cover relates to the novel as the abstract shape represents the streets of New York City
When researching retro artworks and designs I found a lot of tutorials on retro design. This is a tutorial I found that would be perfect for my design http://www.tutorial9.net/tutorials/photoshop-tutorials/amazing-vector-retro-rainbow-curves/. Because the design was very outlandish I wanted to create a typeface that had retro characteristics but also was not also highly outlandish I found the typeface “bellerose” from dafont.com and believe my design interacts perfectly using Hierarchy to direct the viewers eye in order of preference.
MONOTONE
Throughout the novel Holden jumps back and forth from central park, which is the only place where Holden fins some moments of happiness. It is in the park that he finally has a moment of true happiness when he sees his sister riding the carrousel. In a way the park is a metaphor for the wide-open spaces to which Holden dreams of running away (York Notes, The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger)
The cover design represents the theme monotone as it is of a singular colour in both the image and the type.
I have used the type Times to represent strength and firmness and to base it clearly show the changing colour of the black and white.
FUTURISTIC
When the Catcher in the Rye was release in America in 1951 it caused instant constroversy of its bad language and the shocking nature of some of the schenes. Although today this type of novel is quite normal and would not be looked at twice for these schenes in the time it was created it was some of the “future”.
I have used a background of spaceage beams and colours to represent the novel. I found this tutorial, which I thought, would work perfectly to get the look I was looking for. http://www.blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/tutorials/design-a-colorful-retro-futuristic-poster-in-photoshop
The typeface I have used to convey the message of a Futuristic theme was Blue Island, which successfully balances readability with intriguing decorative forms.
PASSIVE
The catcher in the Rye uses the ducks as a metaphor for the immaturity and innocence of the character Holden. I have used an image of ducks on the lake to convey this message shown in the novel. The image is passive as it uses soft colours and is shown in a peaceful pond.
For the book cover design I have used a passive colour combination as well as using the purist of colours, which is “white” for the typeface. I used the typeface Jane Austen to represent a calm, soft script font to show the passive theme, I then used a simple classy font (futura) for the authors name to complement the script font and balance the design.
AGGRESSIVE
The Catcher in the Rye deals with teenage rebellion and how Holden sees false values in the society around him.
I have used a silhouette of New York City to represent the aggression in Holden’s life, as the novel is set in New York City in which Holden finds a frightening place full of shallow people that Holden describes as “phonies”. To Holden New York City represents the bad in the world as he sees as an aggressive and corrupt place. We see Holden rebel against some of the social attributes and values.
I have used the colour red to represent associated with authority and anger. The colour red also represents Holden’s rebellion against some of the social attributes and values. We cam see a sign of this by Holden wearing his red hunting hat, as red was associated with communism.
The aggression shown through the cover, as in the Western world we associate red for authority and anger.
I have used Aggressive angry baby killer for the type as the abrupt changes in the stroke, pointed stroke ends and changing slant direction represent the aggressive nature of the font.
GRUNGE
The characteristic if Grunge design is dirty stains, torn images and broken icons and creased pieces of paper. I believe this relates to Holden and his journey throughout the novel and his emotion breakdown and struggle into adulthood.
I have tried to convey this message through the use of splatter, dots and colours. The silhouette on the cover represents holden, slummed and looking to the ground.
I have used the typeface A bite from the grunge theme in dafont.com. I did play with several typefaces bout found this most effect with my design and how I wanted to convey the book.
