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Book
Redesign
About
This project is re-designing an existing book, which is a sequel to the original series published in the 70s. I feel that the sequel could use a modern touch which will differentiate itself from the original while retaining the core elements.
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Tools Used
InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop
OVERVIEW
"Do not judge a book by its cover.", is a quote often used in the context of the metaphor of life, in not judging a person by its appearance. However, when it comes to books, most readers actually judge its covers. The cover designs are what makes a book stand out and attract the attention of a potential reader browsing for books in a bookstore or online.
Depending on the nature of the design, it may give potential readers a clear sign or a subtle hint of what the book is all about, just by one look. An attractive, unique and aesthetically pleasing design is what sparks curiosity into making a potential reader reach out for the book from the bookshelf.
What lies within this book is what makes the reader to either buy it or drop it. While the content does play a part in their decision making, the interior design is just as important.
Some covers may be misleading, with cartoonish and colourful designs on the outside but a serious topic meant for adults on the inside, and vice versa. Unless we are talking about essential books for educational purposes like textbooks and workbooks, where the readers buy solely for its content and do not care much about its appearance.
And our modern lifestyle of having information overload tends to shorten our attention span. Readers no longer want to read endless pages of texts from the start till the end. They want something visually captivating, such as nice fonts and patterns at the start of every chapter, which acts as a page breaker to rest the eyes before resuming.
RESEARCH
A good example is this self-help book about the Japanese life philosophy by Beth Kempton, which designs are tailored according to the content of the book, Japanese elements like bamboo patterns and brush strokes, in addition to Japanese language of Hiragana and Kanji are used to give readers that Japanese feeling type of mood.
It is something you do not see in normal self-help books. The design is aesthetically pleasing to the eyes, that it allows readers to stop after every chapter to admire and reflect on what they have just read and in a way, acts as a therapeutic experience of reading to rest the eyes and mind.
REDESIGN
COVER
Lone Wolf and Cub is a Japanese graphic novel series first published in 1970 which chronicles the tale of a Samurai and his son. A sequel was published in 2014 which follows the story of his son surviving alone after the death of his father.
The sequel, "New Lone Wolf and Cub" book designs follow the art style of the original one, staying true to its origins.
However, I decide to do a modern take of the sequel by giving a contemporary design while retaining its core elements.
As you can see, the book design seems old fashioned as it stays true to the original one published in the 70s, which is fine for existing fans but how do you attract new readers today to join the fan club?
The theme color of the book is red, for two reasons.
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To reflect the theme of the story which is about blood and vengeance
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Red is a traditional symbol of Japan, specifically, the color of the rising sun
Just like the original, an illustration is used for the covers, except that the new illustrations are less elaborate and more modern, going towards a minimalist style of art while retaining a certain traditional art as well.
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Since the story now focus only on his son, I changed the titled to "Wolf Cub" instead of "New Lone Wolf and Cub".
A sub title indicating that it's a sequel to the original Lone Wolf and Cub is placed at the bottom.
The sword on the front cover symbolizes the sword left by the main character’s late father, as he assumes its burden, thus, the title, “Daigoro’s Path of Hell”.
The back cover depicts the final duel which led to the death of his father. So existing fans can tell that this book continues where the last one left off. For new readers, it will arouse their curiosity into knowing what it is about.
INTERIOR
Now that we have gotten their attention to picking up and opening up this book, it’s time to make them buy it.
For every chapter, there will be a quote page with different illustrations, pertaining to the content of the chapter.
For Chapter 1, the theme is loneliness as the story picks up from the last chapter of the previous book where his father died and now must learn to survive the harsh world alone.
After the quote page, there will be a page breaker of a Japanese pattern commonly used during feudal Japan, to transport the readers back in time and the autumn flowers to set the mood for readers as the story begins to unfold.
For every chapter, there will be different quotes and illustrations used to make it feel more interactive and aesthetically pleasing to the eyes, which will make the readers look forward to reading every chapter.
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The goal is not only to attract the readers to browse it but to buy it as well,
increasing the conversion rate and generating sales income,
attracting new fans while retaining the existing fanbase.
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The challenge in redesigning an existing book is to try something new and
different but at the same time not too radical or stray away from the
original theme which will put off existing fans.
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SELF-REFLECTION
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