LOOKING FOR ALASKA
A TRENDING NEW BOOK COVER
PRINT DESIGN
APPLICATIONS: ILLUSTRATOR
John Green’s debut novel, Looking for Alaska, has long held the status as my favorite book of all time. Resisting the urge to delve into the plot, I believed the original cover design was too ambiguous to captivate potential readers, primarily not establishing that in the case of this novel, Alaska is the name of a girl and not a large, easily recognizable state on a map which need not be found.
Since book covers are under constant states of revision to appeal to new readers, inspiration for the book's new look was drawn from the pop art minimalist style currently dominating the young-adult genre. Adobe Illustrator was used to create a human silhouette that would replace the smoke plume of 2006. The monochromatic blue palette was selected to pay homage to the original cover, and the title was hand-lettered around the portrait to match style and utilize negative space. The result is a book cover that conveys the basic details of the novel while keeping the wonders of its plot a secret, all in a trending look to appeal to the newest generation of readers.
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