Thoughts on Typographic Book Cover?

Hey guys,
So I’m updating an old project using InDesign after taking time to refresh my skills on it as I mainly use Illustrator and found it tedious to work with (but not anymore). I just started on a new version of the front cover of a Little Red Riding Hood picture book that’s aimed at adults using only typography (quite a generic brief from college).
https://www.behance.net/gallery/65087881/Telling-Tales-with-Typography

I was wondering if there’s anything else I could add to the front cover? As I’m happy with a minimalist look but I feel like something is missing.

Thank you :slight_smile:

Also check out some of my other work: https://www.behance.net/isaaccoppin

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I’m afraid that I don’t understand the imagery. Are you attempting a portrait, of sorts, of Little Red Riding Hood made from the letter R? If so, it’s not immediately obvious or especially convincing. I don’t understand the reason for the backwards B and its white counter.

Also, the R is not visually centered above the title. It appears that you’ve measured from both sides and positioned things according to those measurements, but it would be better to center the weight of the R. In other words, visually center it.

Thanks for pointing that out :slight_smile: It was just a simple, minimalistic cover that signifies it’s Red Riding Hood.

The ‘B’ was supposed to resemble a basket, I made a version with the lowercase counterpart to see looked more like it was being held (figure-ground theory) as I was relying on the negative space in the red.
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OK. I can see it now.

Since the R is Red Riding Hood’s initial, it makes sense. I’m wanting the b to mean something too, but it just seems to be a random letter chosen because it’s vaguely shaped like a purse…

I love this actually. However, like with Just-B, It took me sometime to figure out the imagery.

I was about to give you “I love the concept, but the face doesn’t come through and the ‘b’ makes no sense…etc etc”

Now that I see the whole figure, I think this piece is quite exceptional. In fact, I wouldn’t even suggest making it more literal in the least. Let it become a discussion amongst the viewers, let folks have that moment of confusion, then it becomes one of those pieces that people love to show others. Everyone loves to be the one who “sees the image” and has the glory of explaining it to someone else.

However, I have to say the inside of the text looks extremely busy. I would minimize that as well.
I like the feel, and the style - It’s just significantly over done in my opinion.

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Love the concept here!
I agree with some other posts that the “b” doesn’t add much in the cover. I think you should keep the “R” with the little face cut out and let that sort of be the main imagery. Maybe the cover could use a little something else to it, like another level of type or something. An author’s name in smaller print? Maybe play with the alignment of the text and the “image” of Red Riding Hood? Have you tried switching the colors around? I think that the shot that you posted with the big “R” on the gray background conveys the imagery better because you can see the bottom of her cape and the way it sort of curves with the bracket on the R. Maybe the book should have a white background, or a black one with the letters knocked out in white and your negative space on the “face” could be black, since its under her hood? Just some things to try out and see how you like them!
Keep up the good work!

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Also, I think the rest of the book could use a little more integration of type and imagery across the entire spread. You’ve done a good job with this on pages 8,10, and 18, but the rest of it is a little repetitive in the layout. It’s like the text for the story is on the left half and the pictures are on the right. What happens if the images move to the bottom of the spread, and the text is above? Or if some parts of it come on to the other page, or the images are on the left and the text is on the right? This could help with the pacing of the book.

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This is very clever!

I think the b as the basket, though, should be moved to the left a bit. It seems like the basket would be in line with the arm, which would be in line with the head, not farther back.

Perhaps on the cover you could have some of the art from the inside (some pieces of the forest, for example) in the corners or near the R. Or maybe the wolf coming out from somewhere peaking at her. I feel like the inside of the book is more interesting than the cover, so this could make them more equal. Also maybe play around with the title and add an author.

I like the inside layout a lot! You could experiment with an off-kilter drop cap for “Once” in Once upon a time." You might even try having the art on the lefthand pages and the text on the righthand pages. I like how the art on pages 10 and 16 break across the gutter. I’d like to see more of that throughout.

Great work!

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When you originally posted the work with the capital B and with Little Red Riding Hood on a red background, I didn’t see the cap / silhouette. On the gray background, I see it immediately.

Yeah. Same here. It also makes a whole lot more sense and is more coherent now that I can see some of the inside pages.

I think this is a good example of how it’s difficult to judge individual elements in isolation from the context of the bigger picture.

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Cool! Thanks for sharing!