Creative Works Portfolio - Book Cover Design; Giramondo Publishers

Background The research contributes to the field of communication design practice, specifically the intersection of graphic design and literature. To communicate their long-term commitment to Australian literature, Giramondo Publishing, award-winning publishers of emerging and established Australian writers, commissioned me to develop a new design strategy. Methodological connections between literary publishing strategy and visual identity design are under-researched in publication design. Contribution The research tested the flexibility and longevity of the practical set of visual components established in 2021 to communicate the quality and variety of Giramondo’s publishing list and provide the basis for the company’s future design initiatives. The cover designs re-establish and unify the company’s identity, signify the literary values it endorses, identify the distinct types of literature it publishes, the uniqueness of each book, and point towards future systems within Giramondo’s identity. Significance Efficient and adaptable, the system endures after three years. In the case of Shaun Prescott and Max Easton, individual reputations for new Australian ‘second book’ authors are under cultivation within the publisher’s larger identity system. The research helps to shape Australian book cover design practice. Counter to industry’s approach to design, a tolerance for abstract covers within the Australian publishing industry is indicated in the context of award winning new Australian writing. Represented by an almost featureless atmospheric cover, Jessica Au’s Cold Enough is now in its 6th printing with over 18,500 copies sold, and has won the Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction 2022, been longlisted for the Dublin Award, shortlisted for The Age Book of the Year Award, shortlisted for the Queensland Literary Award for Fiction, and won 2023 Prime Minister’s literary award.