Wildflowers
Book Cover
Company
Smithsonian, Crown Publishing
My Role
Graphic Designer
Tools
Photoshop
Timeline
2023
Description
Redesigning a book cover for a classic botanical collection
Context
This project started with a walk through my neighborhood (Temescal, in Oakland CA). Often neighbors leave boxes of books out and one day I found a book titled Wildflowers of America. Originally published in 1953, this book had beautiful images of hand painted flowers combined with detailed descriptions. Inspired by the artwork I was compelled to redesign the cover on the premise this book, who's last edition was released in 1987, were to be refreshed and republished in 2023.
The Challenge
The found book was missing the original dust jacket and the hard cover was plain with a single flower embossment. Past editions of the book featured a dust jacket with a single flower, who's design felt incredibly outdated. It's too easy to loose a dust jacket, so this book needed to be designed with the artwork printed directly on the cover boards.
Inspiration
The hand-painted illustrations with their exquisite detail and beauty, are a central feature of the book. The cover needed to reflect and highlight this art. The colors and aesthetics of the Wild Rose (pictured below, right page) were particularly interesting to me and I worked to find a similar wild rose illustration for the cover art.
The Solution
Designed in Adobe Photoshop, the cover features two illustrative portraits of wild flowers and a color pallet of warm earth tones. Ample white space allows the flower to be the feature and draw in the reader. Gioviale typeface was chosen for an elegant title and Cochin carried this elegance into the cover body text. Printed on 8" x 12" size with 1" spine, this book would be easier to hold and even carry on expeditions to the local botanical garden. With the artwork printed directly on the cover boards, there would be zero need for a dust jacket.
Ad Campaign
Continuing the process, I anticipate that this new design would need to be featured in mobile and print advertisements for the special republication 60 years from its original as a special anniversary edition.
