OUGD503 - Penguin Design Awards: Feedback

OUGD503 - Studio Brief 1/Penguin Design Awards 

Feedback

During a scheduled critique was the first time I was able to present a physical resolution to a group. The initial reaction to the design was very positive with a number of students laughing and smiling which instantly told me I had succeeded in creating a high impact design that accurately reflects the colloquial tone of voice of the author. Comments regarding this aesthetic included 'brilliant, I love the photoshop effects to make it look real' 'I didn't realise it was a fruit for a good 5 minutes' and 'Its kind of uncomfortable to look at for a long period of time (pardon the pun)'. When asked about the typography that I was initially struggling to place they group responded saying they liked the actual arrangement but felt the colour needed to be bolder suggesting whites and a similar neon pink for the title. Further suggestions included moving the 'galaxy book awards' to the top and moving one of the reviews over to fit on one line. These suggestions will help me to further develop the cover and bring more attention to the type without distracting too much from the main focal point. 

I asked tutors for further feedback and received mixed opinions, one tutor over the bold aesthetic and garish neon-colourpalette however another said it was bit too obvious and suggested for the satirical innuendo nature of the image it might be nice to make it really simple and keep the audience guessing as currently it looks very similar to a vagina whereas a more subtle approach could further engage the audience to engage with the cover and think about its connotations. I liked this theory however was initially unsure how to simplify the aesthetic to succeed in creating this desired effect. I decided to develop this as a separate aesthetic to see where this development leads, the main benefit of this would be to ensure it is suitable for all retail environments which is a key aspect of the brief as some audiences may find this too invasive and wouldn't want to be seen sitting reading the book in public with such a graphic cover.