The Sun Also Rises - Book Cover Design (ART205)

Here's a recent project I worked on for Typography class with Sharon Conlee as the instructor. I chose Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises. I haven’t read the book, but I’m familiar with his work. I like how short the title is, and how short the words are within it; I thought this would help out the design. I did some quick skimming and read a full book summary at Sparknotes.com. Having some idea as to what the book entails would no doubt drive my design.

I looked at a lot of full layout book covers online to see what kind of basic elements are involved. I also looked at other designs of the same cover. Most of these designs involved bullfighting and some sort of shadow to emphasize the “sun” part of the title. I know I wanted the title to take up most of the cover, as with a lot of popular titles in stores, and to only keep Hemingway’s last name on the cover.

I found a sun illustration on Sxc.hu (free royalty-free images) and also a photo of a bullfighter and bull. I liked the color scheme of the sun photo and decided to use that as a basis for the rest of the spread. Using the bullfight photo with lowered opacity as my extra texture I added a little more interest to the sun. The other design elements I used were an author photo, some basic shapes using a dark orange rectangle with lowered opacity, and finally the UPC and original publisher’s logo. I added an illustration of Hemingway’s signature on the back flap.

I used Futura as my title font; it’s bold and has a modern feel to it, which would go well with today’s bookstore. I used Georgia, in regular, bold, and italic to give hierarchy to the copy and review blurbs. Georgia was used because of its’ serifs, to contrast with the san-serif font Futura. I kerned a larger portion of the text, mostly the title and some of the copy, leading adjustments were also used to push text into a cleaner state within the rectangular design elements.

Here's the full jacket.

Help Me Get Funding for a Macbook Pro

At the risk of pandering, I’ve started a campaign to raise money so that I may purchase a laptop. Of course this is not just any laptop, but a Macbook Pro. I’m attending my first semester at Bradley University in August and they recently changed their Slane College laptop requirement. This requirement went from your run-of-the-mill “any laptop with the speed to edit videos” (which, in the PC market is relatively affordable) to “you must now turn to the dark side and spend at minimum $1,800 for a fancy schmancy Steve Jobs prodigal brainchild” laptop. I’m reaching out to friends and family to help meet my monetary goal so I can go to Bradley with the real thing instead of painting my current (perfectly capable) laptop grey and affixing a glow-in-the-dark white apple decal. Yes, I will be spamming all of you for dinero, every little bit will help. Please go to my campaign link and read the goodies you will get for your donations. There’s only 15 days left of the campaign, so please, please, please share this with your friends. In the humble word of Hunter S. Thompson “We can't stop here, this is bat country!” 

Short Summary

Hello, my name is John Farmer; I am a 34 year old college student who also works two jobs in the television industry. After working the run-of-the-mill service and retail jobs I decided to pursue my college education at the ripe old age of 32. I’ve had several people encourage me and give me support throughout my plight for my first degree (Associate’s Degree). I worked hard and graduated from Illinois Central College with honors. The scholarships and grants began to pile up and I was encouraged to go to Bradley University. While I did not get a full ride to Bradley, I have received a large chunk of my tuition. Now that I’ve lined everything up to go to Bradley, I was notified that the laptop requirement for the Slane College of Communications and Fine Arts has changed strictly to a 15”-17” Macbook Pro.

I’m going to be majoring in Interactive Media & Animation with a minor in Journalism. I’m sincerely excited about taking the next step for my education; unfortunately I don’t have the resources to fulfill the laptop requirement.

Bradley has a stellar interactive media program and I have a passion for creating music, film and all media. I have written, recorded, filmed and edited many videos on YouTube under Blue Civilian and The Aposematics. I really want to take the next step and increase my knowledge, eventually hoping to get into a creative and challenging career.

What I Need and What You Get

I need $1,1800 to purchase a brand new, no frills Macbook Pro. I really need whatever I can get to help take off the burden. I am getting some aid money back, but it’s not enough to cover my books and the laptop. If my goal is not reached, whatever has been gathered will go directly to my purchasing of a Macbook Pro (every little bit helps).

$5 – You will get a personal thank you from me

$20 – You will get my expertise with Photoshop. This will include photo editing and/or color correction for up to 3 images.

$100 – You will get my expertise with Video Editing. This will include photo slideshows or some creative editing for short videos.

Other Ways You Can Help

Please spread the word about my project, every last dollar will help me finish my education with a bang and fulfill a thirty-something’s dream of becoming the next Interactive Media Bradley University Graduate.

Please remember to use Indiegogo.com’s share tools to spread the word.

Please got to my campaign on Indiegogo.com and give a donation!


Here's the link!


http://www.indiegogo.com/jfarmer1978?a=866967