Penguin Random House UK launched the Student Design Award 2018, challenging us to design a new book cover for one of three books. I chose to recreate the book cover of Noughts & Crosses. 

My book cover was inspired by the theme of relationships and individuality. Throughout the book relationships are represented in different forms and these relationships impact our choices in life and how we react or behave. I wanted this to be shown in my cover but in an ambiguous way to represent all forms of relationships people might share in life. Individuality is the idea of what makes us who we are and all these different factors making us whole. With these themes in mind I explored my own creative output through styles I find appealing but still sticking to the themes, from the feedback given from peers and tutors it was colours, line drawings and negative space which stood out. So when it came to my final design I blended all three elements together. The colour was to represent our individuality and that no one is subjective to one colour alone and that is what makes us great. The line drawing was to represent the forms of relationships we may share and the paths they may lead us down. The negative space was to address the moral of the story and how these topics are still relevant yet not spoken enough about in society. We must learn from our history and understand that the world is changing so we won’t be stuck in the past. I used the mini x and o’s to address the idea of there being more to the picture than meets the eye. You only see the image and rainbow affect from a far but when its right before your eyes your perception is changed.  I felt even though my book cover had a lot of depth, it was still appealing to both genders and the target market audience and stood out from other books on the shelf for its bold colours.

I’m extremely happy with my outcome as not only did I get to express myself as a designer through my own style but I got to address the bigger issues within this book and get more people talking on the matter. I also feel like my designs could be followed through on to other books which Blackman has wrote, showing scope of growth. As well as other elements being added to this book so even outside the store layout the topics are still discussed or relevant.