North Child Book Cover

For the book cover, I chose to use a very limited palette. The story takes place in a snowy region in Northern Europe, and much of the book involves exploration of the region, and hidden snow-covered castles, and even in a castle made of snow and ice. I felt that the palette should reflect the cold, icy feeling, but not convey the region in negative terms. The colors used are more reminiscent of nostalgic winter decorations to give the cover a better sense of the wonder and enchantment, and less of the unforgiving, cold northern climate. My goal was to make the snow and palette feel more welcoming, so that the reader would be invited by the snow rather than pushed away by it.

The only deviation from the cold palette colors is the red of the girl; it is almost a perfect opposite of the blue in the background. I felt it was important to place emphasis not only on the large white bear (who is emphasized simply by his size) but also on the girl, since she is the main character. It was important for me to show them together against the background of the snow, because the girl and the bear are at the heart of the story; the bear has come to shape Rose's life, and Rose comes to save the bears' life. Their lives have been intertwined, and I felt that it was important to demonstrate that relationship on the cover. I also wanted to show them together against the backdrop to give the reader a clue about the fantastic journey that these two take together.

The wind rose on the back is a symbol of Rose, and of the story. In the novel, direction and maps and exploration are large themes. Rose is named for the wind rose, and I thought it was an important part of the book. The wind rose is colored in the palette colors, including the red color I use for Rose's clothing.

The font I chose for the cover was Century Gothic. I felt it was right for the cover because of its slightly softer feel than Helvetica, and Gill Sans, etc, its excellent readability, and it's large, bold, simple, open lines. I wanted a font that would work with the cover, to help it achieve the same feeling of familiarity, but also excitement, and a font that would not steal attention from the graphic but would elevate it.