In this book cover for A Clockwork Orange, David Pelham has managed to distill the main character of the book into an abstracted silhouette of a man with one eye covered in makeup (Friedman). The bright colors combined with the different shapes all work to direct the preattentive channels in the brain to focus on the eye, a symbol for the main character and significant for the aesthetic of the story. The unnatural roundness of the eye breaks from the outline of a man and conflicts with our image of how a person should look like, making it stand out. The fact that the eye is also slightly off center in the frame makes it break the balance of the composition which brings it even more to attention. The white of the eye stands in high contrast to the black eyeliner as well as the vibrant background colors. After focusing on the eye, the viewer is lead to observe the figure as a whole, and especially the bowler hat stands out with its dark black contrasting the red background. Then, at the top of the book cover, the title draws attention to itself with the use of yellow lettering on a red background. These are the main attributes in guiding the eye. After these features have been observed the viewer can start scanning the rest of the frame, finding aspects like the logo for Penguin Publishing in the upper corner, or what the person in the picture is wearing.
Friedman, Vitaly. "Excellent Book Covers and Paperbacks | Smashing Magazine." Smashing Magazine. N.p., 14 Apr. 2008. Web. 18 Oct. 2012.
No comments:
Post a Comment