Covering Science Fiction
A multimodal investigation into the development of book-‐cover design
Linda Postma s1907808
Supervisor: Dr Irene Visser Word count: 15997
Master’s Dissertation Literary Studies Programme Writing, Editing and Mediating Department of English Language and Culture
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
Table of Contents
Preface 3 Introduction 4 1. The Development of Book Cover Design 9 2. The Theory of Multimodality 23 3. Survey 1: Form over Function 35
4. Survey 2: Attracting Audiences 57 Conclusion 63
Preface
Introduction
In order to stimulate book sales and reading, literature is being mediated through advertisements, social media, and other marketing strategies. In order to attract readers, publishing companies rebrand their novels to sell copies; books are wrapped in new jackets to appeal to certain audiences. Since publishing houses use cover designs to attract readers, the cover of a book plays a vital, social role (Matthews and Moody 29). In fact, regardless of a novel’s literary merit, ‘its cover often determines a book’s success’ (Yampbell 348). Due to the publishing
companies’ desire to sell, contemporary designs often ‘jostle for
attention’ (Wagstaff par. 1). For instance, designs display bright colours or foil lettering to catch the eye of potential buyers. Next to this commercial function of book covers, readers also buy books for what the cover says about them (Kotler and Armstrong 183). When being seen on the subway or train, for example, a person can feel proud of the book that they are holding (Wiles qtd. in Rich par. 4). Book jackets have become something that people can identify with. In fact, the cover of a book ‘functions as an emotional visual touchstone,’ Goldberg says: it is not just decorative, but ‘becomes part of the experience’ of reading (qtd. in Morais par. 5).
In contrast, some scholars emphasise that the ^irst and foremost function of a cover is still a practical one, namely that of summarising the novel. For example, in his 2011 book on cover design, Marco Sonzogni argues that ‘the book cover provides the (potential) reader with a visual summary of the book’s
and composition, all of which attribute to representing the novel. If publishing houses mainly focus on attracting readers by creating appealing covers, this could have a consequence for their practical, representational factor. From this, a
question arises: does the publishing companies’ desire to sell come at the expense of representing the novel? This dissertation will examine whether the primary function of book covers has indeed shifted from a practical one to a social one; the latter of which is the focus of this dissertation.
While the academic interest in book covers is growing, I have found few scholarly references to book design or case studies that analyse book jackets. Besides the aim to add to the ^ield of academic research on book-‐cover design, this thesis wishes to expand upon the theory of multimodality: a theory that can be used to analyse book covers. Professor of textual criticism D. F. McKenzie acknowledges that ‘the substance of the text on the one hand from the physical form of its presentation on the other’ cannot possibly be separated (200). Multimodality is a theory of communication that analyses such a relation
between text and contents, and it can be used in examining the substance of the text and its representation.
atmosphere. Together, these element convey information relating to the contents of a novel.
The theory of multimodality can be applied to anything that is arranged in space. For example, a group portrait, the index of a classroom, or graphic
elements within a design (van Leeuwen 2006: 58). This dissertation will pay special attention to Theo van Leeuwen (b. 1947), who is one of the founders of multimodality. Van Leeuwen proposes that there are three elements within any composition: the information value, salience, and framing, all of which can be used to analyse the layout of a book cover.
While van Leeuwen’s three aspects of composition can be applied to any structure, few to none have done so when analysing book covers. This
dissertation will therefore apply multimodality to several book covers in the form of a case study, which comprises of the science-‐^iction novels Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, and The Time Machine by H. G. Wells. Since these books are deemed classics, more people will have read them or heard about them, which can lead to an increased number of participants.
they thought best represented the contents of the novel, while not having the information on the year and edition of the cover design. If publishing companies primarily use cover designs to attract readers, the hypothesis can be formed that the latest, contemporary covers are not chosen as best representing the novel. In other words, it is expected that their multimodal modes, such as colour, image, and typography, do not construct meaning that directly relate to the contents of the story. Therefore, it is presumed that earlier cover designs are voted on. Next to representing the contents of the novel, this thesis will address a second aspect of book covers: the attractiveness of a cover design. If publishing houses place a greater emphasis on attracting audiences instead of summarising a particular novel, it can be assumed that contemporary cover designs are found more attractive than earlier editions. Since more attention is paid to the design, do readers pick up the contemporary novels more quickly than others before them? To answer this question, a second survey was distributed among FaceBook and Goodreads. The second survey asked the participants which of the cover designs they like best and least. For this, the same rebranded covers by the above-‐ mentioned novels were used. When assuming that publishing companies are primarily using covers to attract readers, the hypothesis can be formed that the latest, contemporary editions of Brave New World, The Time Machine, and
Frankenstein are chosen most often as ‘liked best’. In contrast, it is presumed that earlier editions are chosen as ‘liked least’.
analyse aspects such as composition and layout. Additionally, the theory can help explain why some covers acquire more votes, since certain designs depict more information or construct a different meaning than others. Moreover, the theory of multimodality deals with the information value of compositions; it can therefore help assess if one cover present the contents of the novel more clearly than the other.
The structure of this dissertation is as follows. Chapter 1 presents a history on book cover design and an analysis of the latest book cover trends, among which science ^iction. Chapter 2 explains the theory of multimodality, focusing on van Leeuwen’s three aspects of composition. Chapter 3 consists of the results from ^irst survey and the analyses of the book covers according to
1. The Development of Book Cover Design
Over many decades, the book cover has evolved from a simple utilitarian object into an exceedingly visual form of communication. Whereas the ^irst book jackets from the 1820s were solely used as protective packaging, covers gained importance in the 1890s as ‘a way to attract the attention of potential buyers’ (Drew and Sternberger 20).
Throughout the twentieth century, the book jacket became a focus for designers. Book covers were used for communicating both a graphic representation of the contents of the novel and of their publication period. As Drew and Sternberger state, a book cover
re^lected ‘its point in history’ (8).
In America and Britain in the 1920s, creative designers were in^luenced by European movements in the ^ine arts, which inspired novel ways of thinking about graphic design (Landa 4; Drew and Sternberger 20). Designers were inspired by cubism, for example, and used concepts such as disintegrating forms, abstracting ^lat surfaces, and assimilating text into compositions (Drew and Sternberger 21). By employing concepts taken from the ^ine arts, book covers re^lected the period they were published in. The cover for James Joyce’s Ulysses, for instance, was both ‘functional and dramatic’ and ‘seemed as modern as the text itself’ (Drew and Sternberger 9) (see image 1). The image makes use of straight lines and simple colours, all attributing to a practical, modern look.
Image 1: 1934 cover by Ernst Reichl 1
In order to attract readers, publishing houses in the 1930s and 1940s paid more attention to image and typeface. As a result, the publisher’s logo slowly disappeared (Baines 7). In the beginning of the 1930s, the publisher’s identity was the most essential aspect of the cover design. When publishing house Penguin Books ^irst started
producing novels in 1935, their front covers featured a large image of a penguin (see image 2). On their more recent designs, however, the penguin has been reduced in size and is barely, if at all, present (see image 3). Today, the publisher is close to invisible (Baines 7).
While some designers are mentioned throughout this thesis, most publishing companies do not 1
Image 2: 1935 cover by Penguin Books Image 3: 2012 cover by Penguin
After World War II, covers displayed photographs and illustrations in combination with new printing and typesetting techniques (Baines 6-‐7). Instead of the spine, the front cover was now shown in shopping windows to attract the attention of potential buyers (Matthews and Moody xiii). One of the major trends in book cover design during the 1950s was the use of a narrative style to depict images (Baines 100). By employing this style, cover designers used large pictures to directly re^lect a speci^ic scene from a novel, thereby showing part of the plot and demonstrating where the story takes place. For example, the 1953 covers by Brave New World, The Time Machine, and Frankenstein all display part of the storyline and a speci^ic location (Appendix 2). The cover of
Frankenstein, for instance, shows one of the ^inal scenes from the novel: the creature stands in the house of Victor Frankenstein after having killed Elizabeth on her wedding night.
Push Pin is described as ‘an eclectic new style that took Victorian, Art Nouveau, and other historical styles and melded them into a playfully contemporary language of design’ (Drew and Sternberger 93). Image 4, for instance, shows a modern-‐day
newspaper, yet it is superimposed with a portrait of a Renaissance political theorist: the cover combines the historical with the contemporary.
Image 4: 1968 cover by Vincent Ceci
Due to the combination of styles that incorporated images and different
typesetting techniques, book covers displayed postmodern characteristics. In the ^ield of graphic design, this meant the emergence of several features, such as:
‘pastiches of traditional and vernacular styles; unapologetic appropriation of historical sources; mixed typefaces; collages of seemingly disparate images; openly computer-‐generated images; and purposefully vague and complex compositions that de^ied direct reading and ^ixed meaning’. (Drew and Sternberger 116)
For example, George Corsillo’s 1979 cover for Nana shows the ‘pastiches of discordant styles and images that create a purposeful disjuncture’ that is characteristic for
postmodernism (see image 5) (Drew and Sternberger 112). The cover combines different typefaces and a wide arrange of colours to create an eclectic whole.
Postmodern theorists claimed that the universal truths and personal expression that characterised modernism were delusions that were de^iled by corporate power (Shusterman, Habermas, Lawrence, Jameson, and Rorty 606). Theorists and scholars who attempted to counteract modernist ideas tried to tear apart ‘grand historical narratives through the juxtaposition of purposefully discordant historical styles in nonhierarchical, interwoven compositions’ (Drew and Sternberger 116). Some scholars claim that the postmodern paradigm has already evolved into that of post-‐
postmodernism. Alan Kirby, for instance, declares that ‘postmodernism is dead and buried’ (par. 1).
postmodernism and post-‐postmodernism lies with the rise of technology. While post-‐ postmodernism remains concerned with defying universal truths – thus similar to postmodernism – according to Kirby, the epoch is much more focussed on media-‐ induced shallowness (par. 4). As he points out, ‘[i]n postmodernism, one read, watched, listened, as before. In pseudo-‐modernism one phones, clicks, presses, surfs, chooses, moves, downloads’ (Kirby par. 18). A clear de^inition of post-‐postmodernism is hard to come by. Some claim that it is in fact classical pragmatism (Hickman 14), while others name it a ’break-‐through into reality’ (Epstein 1). Kirby argues that contemporary novels, music, or ^ilms do not display postmodern features, and he points out that you can ‘sit through a dozen papers which make no mention of Theory, of Derrida, Foucault, [or] Baudrillard’ (par. 5). In this dissertation, however, the terms modernism and
postmodernism are used as general markers of a style or approach; they transcend a periodisation. A majority of these markers, such as the use of collage, disparate images, and symbols, are still used on book covers today. Additionally, postmodernism
‘privileges the aesthetic over the logical and algorithmic’ (Shusterman et al. 607), a feature that can be directly linked to book covers: a considerable amount of attention is paid to the attractiveness of cover designs. Thus, since the period of post-‐
postmodernism is yet to be clearly de^ined and contemporary book covers show recognisable postmodern characteristics, the terms postmodern and contemporary are used interchangeably throughout this dissertation.
(Drew and Sternberger 117) (see image 6). Greiman’s work was comparable to the graphic styles of “techno” and “new wave”, the latter of which was sometimes used interchangeably with the term postmodernism in the early 1980s (Drew and Sternberger 117).
Image 5: 1979 cover by George Corsillo Image 6: 1997 cover by April Greiman
As early as 1981, a problem that observers of postmodern book-‐cover designs
Warhol, Push Pin, and Dadaist features to create a ‘raw anarchic visual language’(Drew and Sternberger 123). The collage effect can also be seen, for instance, on George Corsillo’s Nana: seemingly unrelated images and texts are put together.
As the 1980s progressed, mainstream designs incorporated postmodern notions of depersonalised expression and disparate images. Designers started building
compositions that revolved around Deco-‐inspired fonts, also known as ‘retro’ (see image 7) (Drew and Sternberger 125). Besides retro fonts, cover artists used a variety of
differently spaced typefaces, among which ‘historical typefaces and formal
arrangements, building and varying themes from De Stijl and Constructivism’ (Drew and Sternberger 125). By referring to historical art movements such as De Stijl and
Constructivism, designers ‘quoted the past unapologetically, creating a conscious and deliberate questioning of originality and boldly obscuring the creative presence of the designer’ (Drew and Sternberger 125). Or, as writer Tim Kreider sums up: ’stealing—I mean appropriation, or homage’ (par. 16). Underlying this method of design was a larger theoretical framework, one that suggested that ‘identity is merely a construct of society, that originality is a myth, and that the notion of creative individuality is a romantic ^iction’ (Drew and Sternberger 131): ideas that re^lect postmodern practise. As
Image 7: 1986 ‘retro’ cover by Scudellari
The challenge for book-‐cover artists towards the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s was to apply stylistic elements from postmodernism into an increasingly commercially driven environment. Contemporary designers were tasked with re-‐
structuring postmodern eclecticism and make designs more approachable for a general audience: they had to ‘re-‐marry poetry to structure and ideal to practice’ (Bruinsma 3). In the wake of postmodern designs, cover artists in the 1990s began to search for ways to ‘reinsert meaning and expression into design while at the same time applying a juxtaposition of styles and layering of images’ (Drew and Sternberger 136). In^luenced by Roland Barthes’ ideas about the “death of the author”, graphic designers seemed to af^irm the concept that every cultural product is a reuse of existing material, and that some designs are more the result of social circumstances than individual creativity (Drew and Sternberger 136).
connections between different fragments of content, which contrasts the ^ixed
hierarchies within modernist practice. Now more than ever, graphic design focuses on the ‘subjective interpretation of signs’ (Bruinsma, 43). This means that book covers have moved away from a narrative style that depicts the plot of the book towards more
abstract notions. Postmodern book-‐cover designs favour eclecticism and abstract
representations, for instance collage, combining typefaces, or layered images, that defy a direct reading. The book covers in the case study that are analysed through multimodal practise will show whether or not this gradual change in design in^luences the depiction of the contents of a novel and the attractiveness of a cover design.
In the publishing industry of the twenty-‐^irst century, marketers are pointing their attention towards the needs of a speci^ic audience and their selling channels (Matthews and Moody 29). Book covers have to be suitable for a particular market, whether a Tesco’s or an of^icial book store. In addition, covers have to work in a variety of environments, from face out in the bookshop, to online, or on a poster in the
Underground (Matthews and Moody 29). In other words, book covers have to appeal to a large audience through a variety of media. Because of this, it is worth looking into some of the general trends among book cover design, especially that of science ^iction; these trends can illustrate how publishing companies rebrand their novels in order to attract readers, which can be useful as background information for analysing the book covers in the case study.
depicted the story. For example, the cover of “War of the Worlds” by Frank T. Paul illustrates exactly what the story is about: Martians invading the earth (see image 8).
Image 8: “War of the Worlds” in Amazing Stories (1927)
After the 1960s, cover art for science-‐^iction novels became more mature, steering away from cartoonish ^igures towards more realistic looking images (Beauchamp par. 4). From the 1980s onwards, cover designs became less experimental and digital processing tools set the trend for simpli^ied covers (Morais par. 14).
covers are starting to look alike. While similarly looking covers make it easy for readers to identify a genre, they display ‘a lack of originality’ (Flood par. 4).
Image 9: The Warded Man (2009) Image 10: Falling Sky (2014)
Nowadays, the merging of book covers happens on a regular basis (Newman par. 1). Writer Tim Kreider observes that the main principles of design are: ‘1. Your product must be bold and eye-‐catching and conspicuously different from everyone else’s, but 2. Not too much!’ This is why contemporary book-‐cover designs all appear similar, or, what Kreider calls, ‘inbred’ (par. 5). The merging of book covers is not only found in the genre of science ^iction, but appears in other genres as well: contemporary covers can ‘act as a shorthand for the kind of book you're getting’ (Flood par. 3). For instance, memoirs often have white backgrounds covered in faces, thrillers have foil lettering, and romance novels display body parts.
males to buy books from these genres, depictions of women are used to attract them (Garrison par. 12). For example, image 11 shows the same trend of the “Hooded Wizard Assassin,” illustrated here by a woman with exposed skin. While covers are moving beyond this trend, half-‐naked women still appear on covers in Young Adult ^iction (YAF) (see image 12). Within the genre of YAF, images of girls that are bare-‐backed or headless set the standard for most cover designs (Audrey par. 3).
Image 11: Drachenfels (2001) Image 12: Beauty Queens (2012)
Tim Kreider comments on the trend of using photographs of young women and states that ‘all those pretty faces and models’ bodies on “literary” novels’ only emphasise that ‘sensationalism has never gone out of style’ (Kreider par. 13). As Cloë Schama boldly states: ‘sex sells’ (par. 3); these provocative images are mainly used to attract readers and sell novels.
to ‘attract and intrigue readers’, and only afterwards should you ‘express the essence of the editorial content’ (198). Within the publishing industry there is a trend to focus on form over function, or design over content. This can be seen, for instance, with the “Hooded Wizard Assassin” trend or minimally clothed women; covers within the same genre look alike. Publishing houses are thereby placing a greater emphasis on marketing the novels instead of their practical function, which, according to Sonzogni is providing a summary of the book (4).
2. The Theory of Multimodality
Educators and literary theorists claim that the dominance of print-‐based texts is being replaced by texts that incorporate visual images and digital designs: the so-‐called multimodal texts (Sera^ini and Clausen 2; Nørgaard 2010b: 63). In school settings, for instance, pupils interact with textbooks, magazines, or newspapers, all of which contain multimodal elements such as images, colour, and graphs. In addition, students come across a variety of digitally-‐based texts that contain multimodal features such as video and sound. The theory of multimodality can help analyse how information is transmitted between different elements in a composition.
A multimodal approach assumes that, in putting together several elements, or ‘modes’, meaning can be constructed (van Leeuwen 2003: 23; Bezemer and Jewitt 184). In the ^ield of literature, for instance, multimodal texts can use several modes to portray part of a narrative (Gibbons 2008: 107). For example, In Jonathan Safran Foer’s
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, images and typesetting form a role in progressing the story. Throughout the novel, Foer makes use of pictures to illustrate what the main character carries in his pictorial diary “Stuff that Happened to me”. Some of the images are described in the text before the reader comes across them; others, however, are new. Since the protagonist does not recount everything that happened to him, the images add to the narrative and provide the reader insight into the protagonist’s life. In other words, the pictures and the text communicate a narrative voice and, together, they produce textual meaning.
Professor of semiotics Gunther Kress identi^ies a problem with the term
line with Kress, Jewitt states that multimodality ‘refers to a ^ield of application rather than a theory, although the on-‐going development of theories that account for the multimodal is an imperative to support high-‐quality research’ (2009b: 2). The term, or concept, is new, and is yet to be clearly de^ined. One of the reasons for this has to do with the seeming-‐less endless ^ields to which multimodality can be applied. In the widest sense, multimodality is ‘the experience of living’ (Gibbons OS 110). People experience life through different modes simultaneously: through the combination of sound, movement, and sight, for example. Whilst having a short conversation, people speak, gesture, or use different forms of intonation; all of which are separate modes. For example, a gesture can replace a word in story, while a rising intonation can intensify a message. In the narrowest sense, multimodality can analyse the composition of a text, as demonstrated above. The term, therefore, covers multiple perspectives and approaches. As Baldry and Thibault state, ‘it is a multipurpose toolkit, not a single tool for a single purpose’ (xv).
While some confusion still remains on the denotation of multimodality, a few general notions can be agreed upon. First, multimodality signals a move away from seeing language as the principal means of communication: language is one mode among many (Gibbons 2010: 5; van Leeuwen 2003: 23) Second, multimodality analyses the concurrence of multiple semiotic modes within any given context (Gibbons 2012: 287; Machin ix). For example, text and image, or sound and video, are analysed concurrently. A solution to the question if multimodality is a theory, ^ield, or method, is provided by Kress. In his book Multimodality: A Social Semiotic Approach to Contemporary
Kress’ advice, in this dissertation, multimodality is referred to as a theory. In my point of view, multimodality is an umbrella term: it can analyse the experience of life or look at the composition of a text; different modes of different scales can be found in both situations. In addition, a clear de^inition of multimodality is yet to be formed and the surge in publication in the twenty-‐^irst century further emphasises the novelty of the concept. Multimodality, therefore, is a ‘theoretical endeavour’ (Gibbons 2008: 109): it can theorise on how different modes stand in relation to each other.
At the same time, this theory can be used as a tool of analysis. When examining a book cover, for instance, multimodality can help analyse the relation between different modes, such as image, colour, typography, and framing. One of the founders of
multimodality, Theo van Leeuwen, proposes a new multimodal approach, one that is speci^ically related to composition. According to van Leeuwen, there are three main aspects of composition in multimodal practice: the information value, salience, and framing. Since all of these aspects can be applied to book-‐cover design, van Leeuwen’s ideas will be used throughout this dissertation.
what is placed on the left is … presented as Given, that is, as something the reader already knows, as a familiar and agreed departure point for the message; what is placed on the right is thereby presented as New, as something which is not yet known to the reader, hence as the crucial point of the message, the issue to which the reader or viewer must pay special attention. (2003: 32)
The distinction between Given and New can be applied to any layout or composition that involves a left-‐right dimension.
Image 13: World History (2004)
is a recognised symbol of ancient Egypt and thereby a clear reference to the past. In essence, multimodal modes are motivated and derived from:
(a) basic bodily givens such as the fact that our left and right side are more of less the same, but our front and back and top and bottom radically different, and basic bodily experiences such as walking upright (these two are therefore shared across cultures) and (b) from the way we interact socially -‐ which is, itself, often based on basic bodily givens and experiences, but differently so in different cultures and social groups, as with the social meaning of left and right. (van Leeuwen 2003: 60)
Cover designs often display a combination of images and typography, the position of which might differ. Based on the fact that our ‘top and bottom [are] radically different’, van Leeuwen makes the distinction between the “Real” and “Ideal,” or up and down respectively. The crux of his argument is that the Ideal (up) stands for positive affects and power, but also for abstraction, contemplation, and idealism, while the Real (down) stands for negative affects and lack of power, but also for a more realistic, ‘feet on the ground’ attitude (van Leeuwen 2003: 26). The distinction between the Ideal and Real is perpetual, demonstrated by the chasm between the heavens above, eternal and
Anil’s Ghost, for example, the face of the protagonist Anil is depicted at the bottom of the cover design (see image 14). In the novel, Anil, a forensic anthropologist, investigates various murders that are connected to the civil war in Sri-‐Lanka. Anil is in no position of power: she struggles to reconcile her American and Sri-‐Lankan heritage and is
constantly obstructed in doing her job. By placing the image of her face at the bottom of the design, her powerlessness is portrayed.
Image 14: Anil’s Ghost (2001)
In explaining of his last points regarding the information value, van Leeuwen highlights the distinction between the Centre and the Margins. He states that,
The Centre signi^ies the nucleus of that which is communicated, while the Margins are ‘in some sense subservient to it, or ancillary to it, or dependent on it’ (van Leeuwen 2003: 43). In other words, the margins can form a context or background for the entire composition.
While a designer can use images, typefaces, or other modes to create a book cover, these modes might not carry the same amount of salience. Some readers are attracted to a certain font, while others are drawn in by bright colours; all of these aspects are taken into account when publishing houses want to appeal to a certain audience. In explaining his second aspect of composition, salience, Van Leeuwen states that ‘regardless of how the elements are arranged in space, salience can create its own hierarchy of importance among them, select some as more important, more worthy of (immediate) attention than others’ (2003: 54). Attributing salience to speci^ic elements is judged on the basis of visual cues. As book covers are used used to attract readers, this is an important aspect to look at. However, it is a subjective one, since ‘people are
intuitively able to judge the weight of a given element of the composition, and the greater that weight, the greater its salience’ (van Leeuwen 2003: 55).
Building on the concept of salience as introduced by van Leeuwen, Reed notes that readers follow a certain reading path when ^irst encountering any composition. He claims that ‘a spatial composition sets up a reading path for a hypothetical reader/ viewer which begins with the most salient elements of the composition’ (Reed 47). While Reed agrees on the fact that salience is subjective, he argues that certain elements within a composition are designed to be more eye-‐catching than others. For example, the image on the cover of Learners and Learning is low in salience (see image 15). The
image. The title, on the other hand, is high is salience: it has a large font and provides a sharp contrast with the dark purple of the cover page. Therefore, the reading path starts at the most salient aspect of the cover: the title. While a reading path can be established on the basis of elements that constitute a layout, this does not assure that every reader will follow the reading path that is set out for them (Reed 47). Thus, when analysing the results of the case study in Chapter 3, I only speculate about a (potential) reading path or ascribing salience.
Image 15: Learners and Learning (2002)
The ^inal element that is of importance to the composition of book covers is van Leeuwen’s third aspect: framing, which is ‘the degree to which [the modes] are separated from each other by framelines, discontinuities or other devices, or, by
contrast, made to blend in with each other’ (van Leeuwen 2003: 24). For cover designs, framing is signi^icant as framelines can, for example, provide a reading path that
discontinuing a certain colour, shape, or material (van Leeuwen 2003: 56). In image 16, the framelines set apart the most essential information of the book: the title, subtile, and name of the author are all presented as separate units of information. In addition, the text boxes also discontinue colours; none of the boxes share the exact same shade. By framing the text and discontinuing colours, the title, subtitle, and name of the author attract attention.
Image 16: An Introduction to Applied Linguistics (2000)
Besides multimodal elements that relate to the composition of a layout, book covers also include modes such as colour and typography. A prominent feature of any book is the title. Similar to the composition of a page and the placement of an image, different fonts within the mode of typography can ascribe meaning to a book’s title; they can
the case of a static, printed font, such as Courier New, the impersonal, technical, new, and ‘the mass produced’ is embodied (Machin 97-‐8). The latter is worth looking at when analysing covers of Brave New World, since the novel deals with the mass production of human embryos. In image 16 above, the typeface of the title of the textbook takes up little space; the letters are in close proximity of each other. Such condensed typefaces indicate that they are ‘precise, economical [or] humble’ (Montoro 34). Since the textbook concerns Applied Linguistics, the font re^lects the genre and contents of the book. In contrast, wide typefaces take up space and ‘spread themselves around, using space as if it is in unlimited supply’ (van Leeuwen 2006: 148). On the cover of Anil’s Ghost (image 14), for example, the name of the author and the title of the novel have wide typefaces that cover a large part of the design. As a result, they attract attention. While narrow typefaces can feel precise or humble, in some cases, they can also feel ‘cramped, restricted or crowded’ (Machin 96).
Additionally, typefaces can re^lect regularity or irregularity: an irregular font indicates creativity or chaos, while a regular font embodies ‘conformity, restraint, [and] order’ (Montoro 39). Compared to image 14, the typeface of the title of Drachenfels (image 11) appears more irregular: the ^irst letter is decorated and the font shows extensions either upwards or downwards. Since Drachenfels is a fantasy novel about ^ighting sorcerers and vampires, an irregular font that embodies creativity and chaos is a suitable choice. In other words, the mode of typography re^lects the contents of the novel.
most intensely saturated colour to the most diluted versions of the same colour (either towards pale and pastel or towards the dull and dark)’ (Montoro 45). Where some covers have intense, primary colours, such as red and blue, others use colours that are more mild and gentle. The difference between the use of these colours lies with their potential regarding emotional temperature. Less saturated colours are ‘toned down, subtle, gentle, even peaceful or possible moody’ (Machin 70). In contrast, highly saturated colours are ‘emotionally intense, bold and engaging’ (Machin 75).
Some cover designs use a plentitude of colours, while others only use a couple. This difference can be categorised according to differentiation. If a cover shows
monochrome colours, for instance black and white, this can make images seem symbolic. In contrast, multiple colours suggests that the image is descriptive (Machin 2010: 78). When regarding salience, differentiation can be used to draw attention to a mode and thereby indicate a reading path.
Next to differentiation, luminosity can also draw attention to a cover design. Luminosity is a colour scale that is associated with ‘the unworldly glow of magic and supernatural beings or objects’ (Machin 78). As this dissertation analyses science-‐^iction covers, this concept might be worth looking at.
Lastly, an image’s hue, the scale from red to blue, can be analysed. If an image tends towards the red side, it is associated with ‘warmth, energy, salience, [and]
earth to become dangerous, infected territory. The colour blue, associated with cold and distance, therefore re^lects part of the plot.
Van Leeuwen’s three aspects of composition provide a clear structure to
3. Survey 1: Form over Function
The latest trend among book-‐cover design is that designers place a greater emphasis on the form of the design instead of on the content. If the main function of book covers has shifted to attracting the reader, this might have consequences for a cover’s
representational factor; certain ^lashy-‐colours or symbols that are used as eye-‐catchers might not relate to the contents of a book. Therefore, does the publishing companies’ desire to sell come at the expense of representing the novel? To answer this questions, a survey was distributed on Goodreads, an online platform for book lovers that is based on voluntary reading and writing. Because the platform is frequented by book lovers that discuss novels in multiple forums, opening up a forum for discussion was simple and provided a good opportunity for spreading the questionnaire. While the participants were not directly asked to explain their choices, about 1/3 volunteered to do so regardless; some of the participants’ answers are incorporated in this chapter and the next.
the relation between attracting the reader and re^lecting a book’s contents, the following question was asked: ‘which of the following book covers is the most accurate
representation of the contents of the novel?’ Since publishing houses pay more attention to attracting a target audience than on accurately representing the contents of a book, an expected outcome is that the latest, contemporary designs will not be voted on most. Instead, earlier editions, for example designs from the 50s and 60s that use a narrative approach and depict scenes from the book, will be voted on. The answers to this survey were given anonymously and can be found in Appendix 3. In total, the ^irst survey amounted to 150 answers: sixty-‐one for Brave New World, sixty for Frankenstein, and twenty-‐nine for The Time Machine.
In this chapter, the theory of multimodality is used to analyse how information is transmitted by looking at different modes, such as lay-‐out, composition, and typography, on the covers of Brave New World, The Time Machine, and Frankenstein. The different elements that make up the composition of a book cover each construct meaning. Some elements, however, convey information that is more in line with the contents of the novel. For instance, an image on the cover of Brave New World’s 1971 edition might bear a better resemblance to the book than any other edition, or a certain typeface might suit the overall theme of the book more closely than the one that is used. In the ^irst survey, it is expected that the cover designs whose multimodal modes convey information that suits the contents of the novel most accurately are voted on most often. Since it is
expected that the latest editions are least representative of the contents of the novel, it is also expected that the modes on the contemporary editions carry the least amount of salient information. In other words, the typography, images, and colours convey
of potential readers. In addition, it is expected that earlier editions will be voted on most; their multimodal modes hold more information that relates to the contents of the novel than contemporary covers. Therefore, cover designs that are picked most often and cover designs that are picked least often are compared and contrasted. Subsequently, their differences in conveying meaning through multiple modes is analysed. As a point of reference, Reed’s table that summarises van Leeuwen’s main points on describing and analysing multimodality mentioned in Chapter 2 is used throughout this chapter and the next (see Appendix 1).
As can be seen from Appendix 2, Brave New World’s cover design by Penguin Modern Classics of 1965 was chosen as best representing the novel. Out of the sixty-‐one votes, this design acquired twenty-‐^ive. Pictured below (image 17), the 1965 cover design by Penguin’s illustrator Denis Piper consists out of illustrations of human faces, depicted on the bottom half of the design.
Image 17: Penguin Modern Classics (1965 edition)
can stand for negative affects and lack of power (2003: 26). Since the citizens in this dystopian novel are forced to suppress strong emotions, human relationships, and desires, the composition of the images conveys the message that the characters in the novel are powerless or controlled, thereby re^lecting the contents of the novel.
An additional distinction within the planes of the Ideal and the Real are the horizontal and vertical planes, which relate back to the mode of framing. Since the 1965 book cover features two lines of similarly-‐looking human faces in a vertical position, the vertical plane is emphasised. On this plane, categories are ^ixed and order is created (van Leeuwen 2003: 37), which can be directly linked to the contents of the novel: from the start, it is made clear that the novel’s society creates nearly identical embryos that are predestined to either become an Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, or Epsilon. The lives of these human embryos are ^ixed from the moment they are placed in a tube and processed by the Hatching and Conditioning Centre. Thus, by placing the identical
human faces in a vertical line, the novel’s play on structure and hierarchy is emphasised. In addition, the mode of colour conveys information directly relating to the novel. The colour that is most prominent on this edition of Brave New World, and the colour that forms the backdrop for the images, is beige. According to Montoro, less saturated colours, such as beige, indicate an atmosphere that is non-‐engaging, toned down, and dull (45). Since the characters in the novel dull their senses by taking drugs and live controlled lives, the colour beige re^lects the plot.
powerless and suppressed, and the background colour re^lects the fact that people suppress emotions and live controlled lives.
Harper Perennial’s 1998 cover design acquired eleven votes out of the sixty-‐one. Pictured below (image 18), this cover design also features human-‐like ^igures.
Image 18: Harper Perennial (1998 edition)
^igures on the right corresponds to the contents of the novel: the right corner presents unknown territory.
One of the most prominent features of this design is the title. It is bold and takes up a lot of space. Since the title is spread out over the design, it can be speculated that it holds a lot of salience and is the start of a reading path. The letters of the title are in a static and printed font; they embody the technical and the ‘mass produced’ (Machin 97-‐98). Brave New World touches upon subjects such as bioengineering and the mass production of human embryos, which ^its the use of typeface. In addition, as the font and the lettering are widely spaced and do not touch each other, they indicate ‘conformity, restraint, [and] order’ (Montoro 39), which relates back to the social hierarchy that the novel stresses.
