The Man on the Stairs Book Cover Designs
typography 2
assignment: find any short story, read it, and design 3 different covers for the short story.
first cover: illustration with type
second cover: just type
third cover: photography with type
must have: short story title. authors name and “stories” or “and other stories” on the cover.
I chose the short story; the man on the stairs by miranda july
summary of the story: a woman is asleep in bed with her boyfriend, when she thinks she hears someone coming up the stairs. as she awaits her possible death, her thoughts begin to race about her life thus far. she thinks about her relationship with her boyfriend and her friends.
….i wont give the ending away. it’s a short story you can read it!
the book is kind of a comedy thriller- dark humor, with a message of course.
my designs:
illustration w/type- i created a line art illustration of a scared woman’s face, with a subtle shadow of man. I am currently drawn to books in the shade of pink i chose for this cover, with the contrast of the dark type. because the book isn’t actually a horror book, i chose not to make the cover look too scary like a horror story book cover typically is.
just type- for this approach i decided to go with a nice clean typeface with long drawn out shadow effect on the type. the long shadows give the type life and movement. the colors are bright and intrigue you to question what the story is about, because the title sounds eerie but the bright colors don’t make you think of a horror novel.
photo w/ type- i used the obvious picture of stairs. i took the photo at the bottom of the stairs in my house. i Photoshoped the image to have a fuchsia tint, gave it some grain and grit, upped the contrast to emphasize the shadows. for the typeface i chose a type that would give it that retro “teen horror” feel.