EP // BRIEF2 // PENGUIN // IDEA 2

As the first idea didn't quite work out I went back to the drawing board to think of a new approach but to still keep the direction and overall theme of representing black Americans from past and present. The second idea explores the most common characteristic of the mockingbird and connecting this to protest songs from the 1930's. Mockingbirds are best known for mimicking the songs of other birds and the sounds of insects and amphibians. In the 1920s and 30s saw an increase rise in the number of songs which protested against racial discrimination. Taking both of these things and combining them starts to create a strong conceptual concrete link. Instead of the mockingbird mimicking songs of other birds, the mockingbird has seen the harsh reality of racial discrimination and in return started to mimic the protest songs.

Through the trusty source of Wikipedia, the site listed a number of well-known protest songs throughout the 20's and 30's. As the book was set in the 1930's I only focused on songs from this period. The list of songs was:

- (What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue by Fats Walle.
- Strange Fruit by Lewis Allan and performed and recorded by Billie Holiday.
- The Bourgeois Blue by Lead Belly.

All three songs talk about racial discrimination at their core but all speak of different punishments and treatments. For example, 'Strange Fruit' by Lewis Allan is an anti-lynching song, which contains the lyrics "Southern trees bear strange fruit / Blood on the leaves and blood at the root / Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze". This is the kind of song which is too strong and can be too distressing for a lack of a better word, to be put on the front of a book cover. The other two songs are less distressing for the reader to digest. Reading both lyrics from 'Black and Blue' by Fats Walle & 'The Bourgeois Blue' by Lead Belly, I decided to use the lyrics from 'Black and blue' as they were emotionally hard hitting but not obvious from the onset. The lyric I like best is "What did I do, to be so black and blue?" which indicates that no black person asked to be treated this way but can also describe the beating from which the term 'beaten till I'm black and blue' comes from. 

Below is the initial sketch. All design elements represent a look and feel to the 1930's in order to keep consistency with the era of the book. The main featured image is the music sheet from the protest song dominantly displayed on the page to emotionally connect but to also spark interest from readers. The background implements a vintage texture to again link back to the era of the book.

Below is the digital mockup. The look and feel give off an old aesthetic. The music sheet showcases one verse of the song. What I inevitably disliked about the song was the uniqueness of the idea. The layout looked very bog standard and obvious. The concept was still great but didn't allow the book to really show off the concept. The music sheet is a good indication of demonstrating the song but it contains a lot of irrelevant symbols and lines that take up an unnecessary room, which could be removed to open up the cover to allow more breathing space.

Moving on, I started to play around with the layout to attempt to free up some space and to give the overall cover more of a contemporary feel to reach out to the new generation of readers.

This brought to me to the sketch below. Instead of using the whole music sheet I decided to pick one line that tied the whole message together. The line was "What did I do, to be so black and blue?". This decision freed up a lot of space and allow the overall cover to breathe; giving more depth and meaning due to minimal distractions.

This is the digital mockup. The overall look and feel of the cover are sufficiently stronger. The spacious approach gave the overall design more of a contemporary feel whilst still maintaining a 1930's feel. I have three possible layouts to choose from, all the same look but different structure in regards to hierarchy. 

The title is an effective design decision to lead the user's eye down the cover ensuring that all elements and information are seen.

Looks more like a face? Could represent Tom Robinson, the black man in the book who is wrongly convicted of rape and the man behind the whole concept.

Most minimal version, leave the majority of the cover empty. Allows more focus and attention on the few elements remaining.