Project Type:
Book Jacket
Purpose:
Redesign a book jacket for a new printing of My Life is a Poem by Mark Everyman.
Original:
The current book jacket is done in a brownish yellow color with a simple floral design in black and white. The front inside flap is a description of the book. The back inside flap contains a B&W photo of the author and a brief biographical sketch. The back of the book cover is promotional copy for the publisher (a list of other titles from Kofee Books).
Makeover Parameters:
For the second printing the author and the publisher want something a little bit fresher, brighter. The book contains poetry written by the 55 year old author (born 1948) from about 1960 to 1990. The poetry itself covers everything from personal feelings about smoking pot in college, the birth of his first child in 1981, and shoveling snow to how he was affected by various world events including the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger.
My Life is a Poem is a mix of happy, sad, angry, and just plain ordinary events and observations by a self-described borderline hippie who has lived all over the US but calls the New England States home even when living part of the year in a Colorado ski lodge or on an Indian reservation in Oklahoma.
The current artwork on the jacket is simply a drawing by a friend. While it held personal meaning for the author it doesn't really have a specific connection to the poetry in the book. It's not necessary that the new jacket design reflect any particular poem or event but the author and publisher are looking for it to convey something of ordinary day-to-day life during the extraordinary events of that 30 year period.
You will submit a book jacket design that includes front cover and spine. The back cover will contain text supplied by the publisher (promotional copy for Kofee Books), ISBN #, etc. so you can leave that blank for the purposes of this redesign. The front and back flaps should describe the book (use Lorem Ipsum/dummy text) and contain a photo of the author and brief bio (use placeholder graphic and text).
The spine should include the logo for Kofee Books. Just use an oval as placeholder image.Colors and font choice for the overall design are up to the designer.
See below for the dimensions for the book jacket.
Resources:
Download a large gif of the original book jacket for reference: bookjacket800.gif
Dimensions:
The trim size of the book is 4.5 x 7 and 560 pages. The book jacket should be one page containing the flaps, spine, and front and back cover.
Dimensions are (in inches):
Overall: 18.625 x 7.25
Flaps, 3.5 each
Front & Back: 4.625 each
Spine: 1.625
Allow a .375 wrap for each flap
Use at least 1/8" beyond trim for any bleeds
