carrie's war - full cover design

For the back cover, I want it to lead on from the front - so maybe have the train running onto the back; carrying on the landscape, making it more of a story. 

I carried on the train, while also adding a little end bit to it where people can stand. I added the blue box so I could map out where I want my blurb to be, I thought it could work well to have it surrounded by the flowers. I'm a bit worried about the type and whether the whole design will be a bit too dark and cluttered to be able to read the type, but I'll just have to try out a few different fonts and colours. 

I hadn't really thought about type or where it would go when making this design, which probably wasn't the best move as I now have to work it around my image. I didn't want text that took too much attention away from the illustration - just something clear and simple. 

I don't think the white is very clear against the brown and doesn't really fir the colour scheme, and the black in the corner is too distracting from the planes. I think I will use black where the white font is. 

I'm having a bit of trouble with the blurb, because I left a space under the train for it but it can't be read in black and I think the white doesn't look very good with this design, it is too contrasting. I will have to rethink where I put the type. 

I decided on 'Palatino Linotype' for the font, it is simple and I think relatable to the type of old, wartime classic story this is, as having a really contemporary type would seem a bit out of place I think. I had a bit of trouble with the spine, as having it all at the top seems a bit cluttered, but if I have it going down the spine it would have to be in different colours in order to be visible. 

In the end I went for this layout:

I think it all fits together quite nicely, the white in the title on the spine makes it stand out, also moving the blurb upwards works a lot better. I think it is good to have a bit of breathing space on the back, as there is quite a lot going on in the design. I am really pleased with this design, I now have to fit the template onto it, with all the mandatory elements.