On the Road by Jack Kerouac
Redesigning a Classic
“On the Road is a novel by American writer Jack Kerouac, based on the travels of Kerouac and his friends across the United States. It is considered a defining work of the postwar Beat and Counterculture generations, with its protagonists living life against a backdrop of jazz, poetry, and drug use. The novel, published in 1957, is a roman à clef, with many key figures of the Beat movement, such as William S. Burroughs (Old Bull Lee), Allen Ginsberg (Carlo Marx) and Neal Cassady (Dean Moriarty) represented by characters in the book, including Kerouac himself as the narrator Sal Paradise.”
— Found on WIKIPEDIA
GAME PLAN
During the redesign of this book I will:
- Clearly define the brand of On the Road.
- Define the audience(s) for this quality re-issue of a classic book.
- Create mood boards for color, tone, illustration/photo style, etc.
- Research all previous covers.
- Pencil sketch at least 25 different concepts.
- Refine to 3 best concepts.
- Create those 3 concepts in the computer. Focus on typography. Find and pair appropriate typefaces. Try at least 25 different combos. Refine all the subtleties in the type: kerning, leading, hierarchy, color tones, etc.
- Refine at least one concept to completion: Front & back cover, flaps, spine.
WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT
On the Road, is a classic, suitable for any reader who enjoys the life on the road. The grunge, drugs, women, jazz, and adventure are what these men live for.
Some inspiration: the Beat Generation, travel, and the collage aesthetic.
IDEATION
I started with researching previous On the Road covers. And then cover sketches.
WORK IN PROGRESS
I then brought those sketches to life. I’ve attached images of my progress so far.
There are two different directions I’m moving forward with. First, illustration heavy, depicting different iconic things seen throughout the book. Second, photography and collage inspired, depicting a woman smoking a cigarette accompanied with, in my opinion, the best quote from the book:
“…because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue center-light pop and everybody goes ‘Awww!’”
The cover I like the most so far is the white illustration cover. After printing, I realized I printed an extra, so I drew a red dotted line between all the images, representing the “red line” across America.
I’m excited to see how this cover progresses!
