EP // BRIEF2 // PENGUIN // IDEA 1

The idea below empowers the powerless. The main feature of the idea is the fist, the iconic symbol of the black movement and a sign of strength and community. The flame is in a shape of a mockingbird to suggest that black people are the mockingbird, they are untouchable whilst innocent. Altogether the design encompasses solidarity and a distinct emotion of revolution by subconsciously reaching out and connecting with the black community. In regards of colour and typography, the look and feel with have a 1930's quality to it connecting the cover with the story within the book. The colour scheme will emphasise strength and visual potency to again, connect back to the overall message of the book. Typography, the type would either be a serif from the 1930's to connect to the era of the book or handwritten to demonstrate how posters used to be displayed/made within the deep-south America of 1930.

Initial idea

The next step was to mock the idea up into a clear visual. This gave me the opportunity to really understand the composition and placements of elements. The other benefit is to mock-up the idea to the size of a book cover to gather a rough understanding whether or not the cover works at a larger scale.

Below you can see a more precise representation (without the text). All elements have been development to accurately show how they could look in the book. The fire in the shape of a mockingbird was my main concern,  I didn't know what position to place the mockingbird in nor was I truly convinced the bird was a good representation of the message I was trying to portray.

As inspiration, I research WW2 propaganda posters. When I envisioned using the iconic 'fist' from the black power movement, I imagine it in the style of British and German propaganda posters used in WW2. Below you can see an example of inspiration. The way they illustrate the hand is very harsh and serious. The light and dark elements are extremely brutal, this was the kind of approach I wanted. The harsh contrast gave the overall poster visibility and demanded attention. There is no doubt at the serious nature of the poster and its message; adding an overall sense of credibility. 

This source of inspiration was what led me to the final version of the idea. As you can see (below) the final version now contains colour. Red to represent the flame, black to contrast heavily against all other elements on the cover. However, there were many things that I disliked. The poster looked too much like Nazi propaganda, even though it's not it still promotes the style used in WW2. Secondly, the hand is white; the hand should be black to represent the black movement as it comes off ironic and insensitive to the movement the black community. Lastly, the text isn't what I wanted, it was a mistake to use a Sans-serif typeface, it doesn't represent a style from the 1930's, I could change the design but in the end, I decided to not go with this idea. The idea was too heavily linked to propaganda from WW2, giving off the wrong impression and message. Even though the fundamental conceptual approach was to represent strength and power to the black community it doesn't at all represents the era of the book. It's too dark and demon-like, it comes off as the black community are about to revolt and kill all whites or the black people are Satanist (something around them lines)