Over the course of a month, I got a really good insight into the world of publishing and what goes into designing a book, the process, timescale and the roles of different designers involved. The prep involves reading the original manuscript, then having a meeting with Anna Bilson, the head art director of the children's art department. Then a brief is created in conjunction with the author with guidelines to follow.
Whilst I was there I had to opportunity to work on a book cover from start to finish, called 80, a poems book celebrating the life work of Roger McGough. The brief was to design a cover that would fit in well with the other books in the series that had been previously published. The cover also had to feature one of the poets own illustrations.
A few examples of my design developments:
Every Wednesday there was a cover meeting with the heads of different departments such as sales and advertising to discuss which designs worked the best and which to take forward. After going through various covers meetings my designs were consistently chosen after every round which meant it got chosen to be published out in the real world which is insaaaane!
Finished design out in the real world:
The children's art department at Penguin designs the Puffin books range which is aimed at readers ranging from 5 years old to 17/18 years of age. This meant that the different styles that I was working with were extremely varied as the demographics of readers differed so much. As a designer, I had to constantly adapt my style to fit the target audience of the book. These are a range of other books I worked on in my time at Penguin:
Bodyguard: Fugitive by Chris Bradford
Brief: Design a cover for the Fugitive that fits in with the previous books in the series. The cover must feature both of the main characters. In the book, the girl is in a wheelchair so should be positioned in a way that reflects this (lower down than him). The plot of the book is set in Shanghai in China so this may influence the background of the design. The title and plot of the book suggest that the main character is a fugitive, therefore he must appear to be on the run in some way.
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole: Sue Townsend, Classic Covers range
Brief: Design the cover for the Secret Diary of Adrian Mole to fit in with the rest of the Penguin Classics range. Limited colour palette, vintage texture.
The Bog Queen - Abberations: Joseph Delaney
Brief: Design a cover for Joseph Delaney's science fiction fantasy book the bog queen, a book aimed at 10 - 12-year-olds featuring monsters, slime and scary creatures. The book is set in dark wartime settings. The blurb is:
'They heard shouting, and cries of fear. Crafty looked down the slope and realised what had happened to cause so much panic. Without warning, the dark wall of the Shole had advanced.Crafty can't remember a time before the Shole - the terrifying mist that has engulfed most of Britain, leaving those trapped in it to either die or be transformed into terrifying monsters- the aberrations. Crafty has been stuck in his family's cellar for nearly a year, his only companions his restless, whispering dead brothers, and an unusually friendly aberration he names the Bog Queen. But then Crafty's life abruptly changes. He is ordered to report to the Castle, where he will train as a gate grub - operators of magical portals that allow the mysterious guild of Gatemancers to explore within the Shole. It is a dangerous job, with a very short life expectancy . . .
To survive, Crafty will have to use every inch of his cunning - whatever the cost.'
To survive, Crafty will have to use every inch of his cunning - whatever the cost.'
Setting: could be woodland/marsh. Castle may be featured.
We were given an abstract from the book featuring the main character, a white snakelike monster and an orb of light to base the cover on.
My designs:
The truth and lies of Ella Black: Emily Barr
Brief: Design a cover for the truth an lies of Ella Black, a book aimed at 13-16 year olds. The book takes place over a variety of settings but is mainly set in Rio de Janeiro. The book features a girl who has a dark side of her that comes out to torment her and ruin her life called Bella (Bad Ella).
Other briefs I worked on:
As well as shadowing the senior designers and working on a variety of book covers I also did work sourcing illustrators to be used on a variety of covers that the other designers were working on. The process at penguin often involves an initial layout being made by a designer that is then adopted by a chosen illustrator. An agent from Pickled Ink came in to show work from a range of illustrators in her agency who may be suitable for upcoming designs, which was something I'd never considered or heard about before working at Penguin.
As well as this I was also sometimes given other odd jobs such as designing a poster for the following years design awards competition.
Evaluation
My time in the art department was really eye-opening and gave me a fantastic insight into the world of publishing and book design and the daily workings that go on there. You got a lot of creative freedom on the designs and it was expected of you to do at least 10 outcomes for each brief so the more ideas you had the better and all new ideas were welcome. If you could illustrate the cover yourself then there was no need to source an illustrator which saves money for the company.
Overall I had a really great time at Penguin! The team were absolutely lovely and always happy to help if you had any questions about the software or the process. Matt the senior director I was shadowing offered lots of great feedback and advice on my designs and was really encouraging throughout my time there.
The best part was that I could take home 2 free books a day! which meant by the end I had about 60 books to give out to my friends and family.
After the placement, I have kept in touch with the team at Penguin, but I decided I didn't really think publishing was for me. Working on book covers every day, although fun and rewarding, got a bit repetitive after a while and it isn't really something I'm that keen to going back to. Following on from my experience I've decided I would rather work in a design studio that covers a lot of different content from branding to packaging, to visual identity etc. However, it is an experience that I will never forget and I enjoyed every second of it!
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