Penguin: Wonder Initial Ideas x2

Mr Brown - Be Kind
One of the main messages within the book is to be kind to everyone, as it's not difficult to just be kind. This is encapsulated within Mr Browns quote 'when given the choice between being right and being kind, choose kind'. I thought focusing a cover around this quote would be interesting as although this sentence sounds so simple its a continuing struggle within the book as people judge Auggie based on how he looks and forget to do the simplest thing and be kind. Initially I looked at the traditional formate of a quote through the use of italics to distinguish the quote from the copy of the book (see figure 1). However throughout these experiments it was difficult to layout the copy with the quote without the copy looking miss places or there being too much empty space (see figures 1-3). Reducing the quote to 'be kind' allowed for a structure to form within the cover as before the quote was too long to organise the copy around (see figures 4) . This also creates a more abstract reference to the quote, allowing the cover to comment on the tone of the whole book rather than focusing on a specific character. In relation to colour (see figures 3-4) it was difficult to decide on a colour as there was no reference point like in previous experiments so bright, gender neutral colours where explored in order to attract children, trying to stay away from the blue used in previous covers. The orange )see figure 4) is the most appropriate colour within these experiments as the warmth in the colour softens and compliments the message of being kind.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4