Objective
(3rd Year University Project)
Give a fresh new contemporary look to two works of either fiction or non- fiction that have already been published.
The 2 covers must appear related as part of a series, but unique to each other.
Room With A View Process & Development
A Passage To India Process & Development
A Room With A View
The hero image is Lucy playing the piano with a red key on the side, which alludes to the notion of her being attached to this music box concept. It showcases how someone else such as Charlotte or Cecil is constantly controlling Lucy’s life.
The negative space around her symbolises isolation as well as a safe space where she is confined to the traditions that society has implemented towards women of her status. However the flowers coming out of the piano, flowing towards the window represents how Lucy’s music is able to break the social barriers. The blue violets also represent George and how he is able to open her world in a different light.
The curtain symbolises the protection that Lucy receives from loved ones and their attempt to shelter or deny her from essentially the beauty of the rest of the world. This is further highlighted through the shadow that never reaches her, but opens to the possibility that some day it will once the curtains fall.
The use of a warm beige colour represents a sense of a vintage aesthetic look that is contrasted through the blue violets. The colour also symbolises femininity without it being too obvious and further enhances an elegant aesthetic that corresponds to the style of the novel. This is further heightened through the use of the font.
A Passage To India
My hero image for this concept was to focus on the architecture, as I believe it was something discussed quite often throughout the novel that represents the differences between England and India.
The building that represents England is positioned above the mountains, which showcases their superiority over the Indians. The mountain that separates the two buildings creates the notion of how the English don’t intend to build any form of connection between the Indians, but rather look over them and monitor their behaviours. This is further highlighted through the use of a bird casting a shadow over the mosque. The green bird mentioned in the novel represents the English culture, and how they see and labels things for what they are, rather than what they can represent.
The mosque represents the truth of Islam and the beautiful culture of India. It’s distorted and created in a way of a water reflection of the building, thus creating this confused and shapeless imagery that mirrors the ‘muddle of India’, and their inattention to form and logic. The formless architecture and the natural life of plants through the usage of flowers create the notion of what the Indian native population is made up of as well.
The mountains also represent the journey that the characters experience through and the obstacles each of them overcomes.
The use of a dark cherry red shade for the majority of the design was to create this warm and rich aesthetic that represents the insightful connotations about a piece of history that to this day still exists in some form. It’s raw, tragic and yet still very relatable, hence the red.
