Challenge 135: YA Book Jacket: Noir Thriller
I imagined this story as sort of a mystery thriller, and tried to give my illustration a noir feel with the high contrast red against black and white. This design incorporates several elements laid out on the surface that imply mystery and adventure, such as a map, a compass, a pen, photograph, and a spilled bottle of ink among other things. And of course there is the tie, featuring a boarding school crest, which runs through the entire composition and wraps around to the back cover where it acts as a frame for the summary text.
The tie looks as if it has been haphazardly dropped on the surface, representing its owner's escape from or rejection of the school. The map and compass imply a plan to travel somewhere, and the spilled ink and other scattered objects imply some unknown conflict while giving hints as to what they might encounter on their journey.
This was a very fun project as I have not had the opportunity to work on any book cover designs before. You can tell I really enjoyed working with lots of detail and coming up with the full wrap-around image.
James
