Previous Covers
The current cover for Bryson's novel does not encapsulate how iconic it is. The book is a decade old and a best seller, popular amongst many readers, yet this cover does not communicate that. Instead, it makes a cheap attempt at conveying the light tone of the writing by using bright, un-earthly colours as well as a 'fun', abhorrent font. Bryson himself as well as many who have read the book say that it is for everyone of all ages who wants to learn. So, why does the cover only appeal to an older audience? It does not display contemporary design with little to no negative space. There has been no hierarchy used in terms of type and the imagery is expected and boring. Penguin has mentioned that as there is so much content covered in the book (nearly everything), that it would be best to find one simple concept and stick to it. That has not been done in this cover design. The attempt at trying to encapsulate all elements within the book results in a cover that makes very little sense - which is ironic as it adorns a book filled with knowledge.
This cover experiments slightly with hierarchy by making the author's name larger in an attempt to grab buyer's attention - as Bryson was already an established author at the time of publication. Similar to the current book cover due to the expected Earth imagery - this design is slightly more imaginative in it's 'manual' imagery. A slightly different and unique idea, if only design principles such as negative space had been pushed further the design would have been a lot more successful. I think that if it were more contemporary in style, the idea would have been more effective, however, the designer has been knocked back bu the limitations of type and colour. The design also presents the question - why is that cling film texture there? What is the relevance? If more stripped back, this design could be successful in visually communicating the fun tone of the book.
This existing version of the novel is my favourite, however, still not up to the standards of some good contemporary book covers. An attempt at 'A Smile in the Mind' design has been made with the clever asterisk design and this also introduces some nice hierarchy - once again making the author's name prominent in attempt to grab buyer's attention. Unfortunately, the Earth imagery is abused once again but has been used in a more sophisticated way. I personally enjoy how the colours are contrasting and almost look as though they have been picked out from the image of the earth. However, I do not think that this cover would appeal to a younger teen audience as it does give off a sense of science textbook due to the negative space - if, perhaps, used differently, then it could have been more successful.
This previous cover makes an attempt at ingenuity, however, the lack of creativity when it comes to the imagery lets it down horribly. The common theme amongst the majority of the past covers is the Earth - and although this cover has interpreted it in a different way to the others, it still lacks creative flare as well as style. The issue is again with trying to encapsulate the entire novel in one image - it produces a boring, predictable cover that does a better job at visually communicating the title rather than the what is actually inside the book. Possibly the most contemporary of all the covers, it does utilise object manipulation, however, is still lacking in contemporary design.
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