Friday, 11 January 2013

Written Statement

Overall I believe that my design fulfills the criteria outlined in the Competition Brief by Penguin. In the brief they say that they’re looking for a fresh angle because the story is so well known, my choice to include Art Deco styling is how I set about achieving this. I feel that it sets off enough visual cues in the target audience to place the book firmly in its time period, while also retaining relevancy. It also says to give the clear message that ‘there are many layers and themes within the book. Read it and discover what the book means to you.’ By choosing to have the figure of the woman (representing several characters) across the spine of the book and not entirely visible from the front I tried to create an air of  mystery and intrigue, compelling the reader to read the book to find out the intentions of the characters. This feeling of mystery an suspense was very important to my design as its at the core of the whole book itself.

In terms of Semiotics, the placement of the two characters on the cover (Marlowe pursuing the woman from a distance as she walks away,) bring about connotations of some hidden relationship dynamic between them, further increasing the feeling of mystery for the observer. The narrative set-piece of a man pursuing a woman is also something people will be able to relate to on a certain level as its been used in many plots before, and has subsequently become a part of popular culture. The clothing and other signifiers within the design also point clearly to the genre and period of the book, giving rise to significant intertextuality which lets the viewer easily understand the overall mood of the book (gritty hard-boiled detective novel) before they even need to read the blurb. I believe this juxtaposition of the style and content to be very important in enabling me to use the stereotypical imagery of the genre (smoking, femme fatale, trench coat and hat etc.) while maintaining a fresh angle on the design. The inclusion of one male and one female on the cover also maintains gender neutrality, ensuring the cover will appeal to male and female readers as outlined in the Penguin brief.

The consistent colour scheme of blue also brings together all the elements of the front, back and spine, helping them work together as a cohesive design. When compared to other designs in the competition, I think my simplistic use of colour and unusual Art Deco styling should set it apart from the majority of the other entries. I feel that I’ve maintained consistency throughout my design in terms of style as the fonts used make a direct reference to the era the  visual content has been drawn from. I think the visual relevancy of the Art Deco styling is also very strong as it is making a resurgence in popular culture at this time. With big films like ‘Gangster Squad’ (same time period and themes as The Big Sleep) making heavy use of Art Deco inspired graphic design and layouts I think my design should fit very well with current trends, without compromising the heritage and integrity of the content.