PSAM
2702

Contemporary Book Cover Design

Parsons School of Design: School of Art, Media, and Tech

Non-Liberal Arts
Undergraduate Course
Degree Students (with Restrictions)
Contemporary Book Cover Design
Fall 2024
Taught By: Neil Swaab
Section: A

CRN: 16312

Credits: 3

In this elective students will learn the art of communicating the contents of a book through its cover. Students will receive a range of real world cover design briefs and will work to produce professional cover art in response. Students will create covers for singular books as well as work to develop a complete aesthetic for a series. They will consider the limits and possibilities of mass production and sustainable approaches to publishing. There will be a consideration of the environmental impact of relevant design choices such as paper stock, foiling, debossing and embossing. Students will learn how to balance their artistic vision with industry standards and the inevitable demands of marketing departments. Alongside work on their own cover designs, students will study examples of classic, contemporary and experimental book design from around the world. Students will learn about integrating image and type through experimentation and discussion of how each of these elements transmit meaning.This will lead into an examination of book cover design as a tool for reaching an audience. Representation and authorship will be considered in relation to groups of people traditionally underserved by mainstream publishing. Attention will be paid to the nuance of designing book covers for children and young adults as well as adult fiction and nonfiction. Guests art directors and editors will be invited to critique the students’ work.

Open to: All university undergraduate degree students, sophomores through seniors only. Some seats have been reserved for BFA Illustration majors.

College: Parsons School of Design (PS)

Department: School of Art, Media, and Tech (AMT)

Campus: New York City (GV)

Course Format: Studio (S)

Modality: Online - Synchronous

Max Enrollment: 16

Add/Drop Deadline: September 9, 2024 (Monday)

Online Withdrawal Deadline: November 17, 2024 (Sunday)

Seats Available: No

Status: Waitlist*

* Status information is updated every few minutes. The status of this course may have changed since the last update. Open seats may have restrictions that will prevent some students from registering. Updated: 11:36am EDT 3/28/2024

Meeting Info:
Days: Thursday
Times: 4:00pm - 6:40pm
Building: Online Course
Room: 999
Date Range: 8/29/2024 - 12/12/2024