Designing the cover of a family history book

This was one of the most interesting commissions we were entrusted to fulfil. Local author John Loveridge comes from an ancient and storied family line. He entrusted us to turn the 66,000-word manuscript of his research into a professional quality book that would make him as proud as his family history. Read on to find out how we brought the contents of his research to life through an engaging cover design.

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Deliverables:
Cover design for author John Loveridge’s personal family history book.

Brief:
Create an attractive and coherent book cover featuring restored historical photos. Capture a sense of nostalgia and proud family history.

Solution:
Restored dozens of historical photographs for this publication, from which the client chose seven to feature on the cover.

Incorporated the silhouette of an oak tree, designed in Adobe Illustrator, as a platform for the front cover text, underscoring the concept of family trees.

Used image manipulation techniques in Adobe Photoshop to capture the aura of family history, referencing the style of fantasy oil painting illustrations.

Designed the title to look like a family heirloom. Mixed the turn-of-the-20th-century ornamental penmanship font P22 Zaner with ITC American Typewriter to emphasise the theme of research into vintage documents.