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19 Impressive To Kill A Mockingbird Covers from Around the World
In the summer of 1960, 34-year-old Nelle Harper Lee (known simply as Harper Lee) published a book that changed lives for decades following. To Kill A Mockingbird was immediately successful after its July 11th release by publisher Lippincott. Not even a year later, in March of 1961, the book received the Pulitzer Prize for best work of fiction. Now, over 50 years later, To Kill A Mockingbird is still loved by children and adults around the world.
Today, we want to share some of the beautiful cover designs and concepts that have been inspired by this classic American novel. Enjoy!
[related: Chronicle at 50: 25 Book Covers; 15 Award-Winning Book Covers; Book Covers Are Watching You: A Selection of 1984 Cover Designs]
1. Amr Zakaria, Product Designer in Düsseldorf, Germany
“Redesigning book covers for some of the most known and best-selling books! It’s an unofficial project made just for practicing on new design themes and styles! I hope you like it!”
2. Claire Smith, Student in Huntington Woods, Michigan
3. Creative Beast, UK
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4. Dan Andres, Student & Freelancer in Northampton, UK
5. Dom Chung, “Visual Creative in National Service Limbo” in Singapore, Singapore
“The design is inspired by elements from Andy Warhol’s style, and Roy Lichtenstein’s halftone style. The mood carried forward was meant to be more sombre, as the theme of the book is about maturity and growth of a child in this harsh society.”
6. Dousan Miao, Graphic Designer in London, UK and Hong Kong
“This is a book cover concept I developed to appeal to a whole new generation of readers while [staying] true to the universal theme of the story. The most important theme of [To Kill A Mockingbird] is the book’s exploration of the moral nature of human beings—that is, whether people are essentially good or essentially evil … In terms of the choice of typeface, Sabon suits this classic perfectly as it was developed in the 1960s, the same period Harper Lee wrote this novel.”
7. Ethan Ang, Student in Singapore, Singapore
“The assignment was to design a book cover that depicts our interpretation of the story. My concept was focused on the rot and decay of southern culture during that time period. Tom was accused of rape and was seen as a monster, however, ignorance and racism was the true monster.”
8. Folio Society in London, UK
Image source; This version is now longer available from Folio Society, but can be found on Amazon and eBay. And you better believe I’ll be finding a copy.
9. Fuel Studio, Branding & Identity Design in London, UK
“The design of the cover is based on social inequality, most notably the underlying theme of racism and human morality. The fist is a representation of the bla
ck community within the book who are repressed by the white community. Whilst the shackle is a portrayal of the white community it also acts as representation of the innocence of the children.”
10. Isabel Lim, Graphic Designer at London College of Communication
“To Kill A Mocking Bird is an iconic literature novel by author Harper Lee. The book speaks about the conflicts and irony of [prejudice], justice and inequality. The book is re-designed in the genre of pop-art, with images emphasizing on the dramatic plot the book holds.”
11. Jamie Whitelaw, Graphic Designer in London, UK
12. JollyGoodThen, Graphic Designer and Illustrator in Austin, TX
13. Katie Ledgerwood, Student at University of Worcester, UK
14. Mickenzie Robbins, Student in Brooklyn, New York
“The imagery on this book cover was created by carving linoleum blocks, a method which emphasizes the harshness of the events in the novel. Further, the imagery symbolically portrays the protagonists movement toward a loss of childhood innocence as she witnesses events unseen to most 8-year-olds, as is shown through the bright yellow which is being overshadowed by a harsh black.”
15. MUTI, Design Studio in Cape Town, South Africa
So this technically isn’t a book cover, but it was too beautiful not to share.
16. Pamela Morena, Brand Identity & Graphic Designer in Weston, FL
17. Rob Morphy & Marc Storrs Illustrators in Auburn, NY
18. Sarah Jane Coleman, Illustrator at Inky Mole in Hinckley, UK
“For me the most poignant moments [of To Kill A Mockingbird] are those when the feared Boo Radley leaves his little gifts for Scout and Jem hidden in the tree, especially the tiny figurines of the children. That needed to be central to the image and in the end, it literally does form ‘the spine’ of the book. The other elements were Scout’s tomboy clothing and the trees (forming play areas and hiding places), and, since I’ve been working with silhouettes a lot recently, a nod to the work of American artist Kara Walker, whose work frames themes relevant to the book such as race, history, narrative, power and shame.”
Announcing the judges of the HOW International Design Awards …
