Cover Design for Western Civilizations, 19e
W. W. Norton (2016). Art direction: Debra Morton Hoyt.
A walkthrough of my sketching and comping process for the design of this series of covers.
Artwork selections were selected by the editor with the art director, chosen to be contextually appropriate while distinct from all 19 prior editions' artwork. These provided me with a starting point. The constraints of working with fine art include avoiding text or other graphic elements overlapping art, so I knew I needed to consider this when sketching design ideas.
I begin by sketching rough thumbnails of cover layout ideas.
I then develop the more promising sketch directions into full comps, as shown above (each row shows a design direction, with the 3rd title showing 2 art options from which the editor and art director could choose. The editor wanted to downplay the edition number, so it will appear on the spine rather than front cover.
The direction shown in the bottom row of comps was preferred, and I modified the color and type in response to editorial and art direction. Color was changed to better distinguish the "Combined Volume" from Volume One, the title changed to sans serif and was made larger, and sizing modifications were made. The final designs are shown as a series (above) and indivually (below).
