Cover Redesigns for YA Books on Mental Illness

Project by: Kristina Gorobets

Introduction

This series of covers was made as part of a university class. Book jacket design is a field I have always been fascinated by, so I worked to produce a set of jacket redesigns for three YA titles that each focus on a different mental illness.

The theme of mental health/illness was a thoughtfully chosen topic for me. As someone who finds great benefit and comfort in fiction about mental health, I think it is important to highlight stories about mental health for young adults who may be struggling. A challenge they may face when browsing at a bookstore is that it is often unclear what themes would be explored within a given fiction title.

Unlike non-fiction, the YA fiction section does not often have theme/subject matter markers, so it may be harder for the person browsing to identify the books that cover their desired subject matter. Compiling a number of novels into a cohesively-designed series that highlights the subject of mental health would bring attention to these titles, and position them as go-to stories of life with mental illness in teens. If a reader in this age category is looking for a title that covers a particular mental illness, this series (by which I refer to a collection of unrelated titles I picked for this project) would be a great starting point.

Tools

InDesign

Procreate

Process

Setting Deliverables

For this project, the goal was to create a series of 3 jackets with corresponding case designs, all of which share a visual language that marks them as a “series”— typography, design elements, colour scheme.

Ideation

I started with browsing a selection of titles on Goodreads that have been shelved as “mental illness”. I have read quite a few titles that fit the bill, but I based my choice on the variety of mental illness representation (I.e. I did not want to end up with three titles that cover anxiety). I ended up choosing We Are Okay by Nina LaCour for depression; Radio Silence by Alice Oseman for anxiety; and Challenger Deep by Neal Schusterman for schizophrenia. (I have read the first two of the three).

Challenger Deep cover. A bright blue cover with a person floating downward, with scribbles tracing their descent.

Radio Silence cover. Turquoise solid background, with a person free-floating down, reaching for their laptop. There is a cord floating up from the computer and forming a multi-layered circle at the top of the cover.

We Are Okay cover. A girl in shorts and a tank top is standing on a mattress, looking out at the winter landscape surrounding her. She has her back turned to us. Snow is falling all around her.

From left to right: Challenger Deep - original (US) cover; Radio Silence - original UK cover; We Are Okay - original US cover.

After narrowing down the list of potential titles, I created a mood board to represent the direction for the visual language for this series:

A collection of images side by side, featuring scribbled text, silhouettes of people, book covers and posters, and fragments. The color scheme is predominantly blue, black and white.

Sketching Cover Ideas

I worked in Procreate to develop a few sketches for each of the covers. I used the brain mapping exercise to explore related ideas for each of the books (based on my experience of reading them/the book summary), then pivoted to a more loose approach of jotting down the imagery that came to mind when I thought about the themes of each book. I came up with a set of rough sketches below:

M mind map for Challenger Deep cover design. It features words like 'mental illness', 'schizophrenia', 'water', 'two realities', and others. — Mind map sketch for Challenger Deep.

For Challenger Deep, I ideated on the concept of parallel realities the main character found himself in. The submarine is the setting of the main character's delusions, so I wanted to convey the environment of that in the illustration. The underwater setting can also be interpreted as a metaphor for being "submerged" under the sea of one's mental illness, and it often feels suffocating to those that struggle with it. I did not want the cover to appear welcoming, but rather to draw the viewer into a dark, deep spot that our main character found himself in, albeit unknowingly.

Sketches of seven cover ideas for Challenger Deep. They feature hand lettering, submarines, sailors, swooshing lines. — Cover idea sketches for Challenger Deep.

For Radio Silence cover, I wanted to carry the idea of parallel realities through. In this case, the the reality of living with anxiety for the two main characters resulted in them trying to conform to societal standards and hide their true selves, in a way. I played with the imagery of a literal radio, characters creating their art together yet alone, and experimented with depiction of specific scenes from the book.

Mind map for Radio Silence. Features words like 'anonymity', 'depression', 'friendship', 'social media', 'fans', and others. — Mind map sketch for Radio Silence.

One of the main characters has an online personality, where they connect with thousands of followers who love their work. In real life, they are isolated and lonely. I wanted this idea of noise and loneliness to convey through the cover, and was inspired by the moodboard above in the treatment of text (noise).

Eight cover sketches for Radio Silence. They feature circular patterns, train station, people sitting, an alien astronaut, and radios. — Cover idea sketches for Radio Silence.

For We Are Okay cover, I wanted to convey the loneliness of depression. Similarly to the above books, the main character struggles with their reality, tainted by mental illness, and the outward reality of the world. The character is stranded on a university campus alone for the winter break, and I wanted to represent/hint at the setting, perhaps play with the idea of snow and cold combined with loneliness, or depict specific scenes from the book.

We Are Okay mind map. Features words like 'cold', 'darkness', 'melancholy' 'betrayal', and others. — Mind map sketch for We Are Okay.

From these series of sketches, I narrowed down the ideas to those I found most feasible, visually appealing, accurately representing the content of each novel, and those that worked together with the other two titles.

Sever cover sketches for We Are Okay. Features hand lettering, a board of notes, a hallway, hands heaching for each other, and other things. — Cover idea sketches for Radio Silence.

Illustration & Lettering

I wanted to create the cover designs from scratch, with my own illustration, lettering, and design. Inspired by the moodboard above, I refined the sketches:

Challenger Deep jacket sketch. There is a submarine divided horizontally in half, with yellow at the bottom and blue at the top.

Challenger Deep case sketch. The submarine is turned into an insane asylum with lit windows, reflected in water.

From left to right: Challenger Deep - original (US) cover; Radio Silence - original UK cover; We Are Okay - original US cover.

Challenger Deep has two parallel realities the main character floats between: his imagined journey to Mariana’s Trench on a submarine, and his confinement in a mental health facility. Throughout the book, the “setting” shifts between the two, so the jacket design represents the illusion, while case design shows the real setting of the novel.

Radio Silence jacket sketch. There is a radio at the center, with words in cursive coming out of the antenna and swirling in a spiral around the radio.

Radio silence case design sketch. There is a radio at the center with a short line of text behind it reading 'hello. I hope someone is listening.'

From left to right: Challenger Deep - original (US) cover; Radio Silence - original UK cover; We Are Okay - original US cover.

Radio Silence is a novel that focuses around a podcast that is a tool of connection between the two main characters, as well as between the podcast host and the rest of the world. I wanted to ise radio wavelength imagery spiraling out of the radio, showing the abundance of connection. In the case design, I wanted to include a short line that feels isolating and static.

We Are Okay jacket design sketch. There is a girl sitting in an emptuy hallway against a wall, with pieces of paper flying around.

We Are Okay case design sketch. There is a girl sitting in a hallway full of people, walking around her.

From left to right: Challenger Deep - original (US) cover; Radio Silence - original UK cover; We Are Okay - original US cover.

We Are Okay is a novel about loneliness, isolation, and depression. The story predominantly takes place on an abandoned campus. For the jacket, I wanted to show our main character in a dormitory hallway, surrounded by fellow students; however, when you take the jacket off, the MC is all alone, with only papers catching in the wind.

Final Designs

Challenger Deep

Radio Silence

We Are Okay

To further make the covers look as part of a series, I worked on matching the spine patterns to align into a continuous abstract design:

Challenger Deep, Radio Silence, and We Are Okay book spines.

I also used a die-cut technique to create a circular cut out in each of the jackets to show the illustration underneath. The jacket designs all explore the idea of “parallel realities” of each story, and the die cut technique adds an interactive element for the reader to explore.

Challenger Deep jacket design.

Radio Silence jacket design.

We Are Okay jacket design.

Reflection

This project was a good exercise in balancing and planning the various aspects that go into book jacket design. In addition, I learned to consider how a book that is positioned as part of a series needs to fit and stand out within the collection. I considered the usage of fonts and hand-lettering across the series and where they needed to match or stand out.

This was also a great opportunity to practice my layout skills. Paying attention to text placement, mandatory elements, continuity - all these elements needed to be constantly evaluated. I learned that changing one small element on one cover could change a series of chain reactions that will require a multitude of adjustments.

Considering the jacket as a 3D object was one of the biggest challenges for me. I had to adjust and reassign dimensions on multiple occasions to position the jacket correctly on the physical book. I learned to allocate space for flap and spine creases, bleeds, fold-overs for the case design. I also realized, midway through the project, that my cut-out placement was not quite symmetrical on all covers, for which I had to re-draw and move virtually every element on every cover.

The most important takeaway from this project for me is the importance of attention to detail. For future jacket design work, I will consider the space allocation for printing and folding purposes more carefully.

Overall, this was a successful first attempt at full book jacket and case design, and I have learned invaluable lessons from creating this project.