Research

Book cover assignment

For the book cover series assignment for Digital Image Techniques, I selected the work of the author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.  The Soviet design aspect appealed to me, coupled with the oppressive subject matter. Firstly I researched the book covers of the titles that were available from this author. There is very limited material available and no series have been published.  I read the online synopsis of each book as there was no time to read them as some are in excess of 1000 pages.  The common themes of the books are the Soviet Union, incarceration and oppression (physical or mental - cancer).  I looked at other book covers on the themes of the Soviet Union, communism and constructivism. The 4 works selected were - One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, The Gulag Archipelago, Cancer Ward and The First Circle.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Life-Denisovich-Penguin-Modern-Classics/dp/0141184744/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=1-1&qid=1417709441

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gulag-Archipelago-1918-1956-Experiment-Investigation/dp/000262253X/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417709696&sr=1-4

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cancer-Ward-Aleksandr-Solzhenitsyn/dp/0099575515/ref=sr_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417709810&sr=1-10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/FIRST-CIRCLE-Alexander-Solzhenitsyn/dp/B000O5NHG0/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417800980&sr=1-3&keywords=the+first+circle+alexander+solzhenitsyn

The author's name features very prominently on these covers, and the obvious colours of black (fear, oppression), and red (power, communism, Soviet Union) are evident. I would like to use these colours in my designs.