Uncommon Cover: Lauren Wakefield’s design for Tom Hanks’ Uncommon Type
Cornerstone’s Junior Designer Lauren Wakefield believes that each creative brief varies considerably. While a design team may look at many different approaches until a final treatment is agreed upon, the concept for Wakefield’s cover design for Tom Hanks’ Uncommon Type came to her instantly.
“Uncommon Type is a book of short stories that all feature a typewriter in some way,” Wakefield tells Spine. “So it was clear that a typewriter or an element of one should be the main feature of the cover.”
Having only a few days to complete the brief, Wakefield initially experimented with various ways of visualizing a typewriter. She considered a few photographic options, but ultimately decided that the sole illustrated design she had done captured the “warmth and charm” of the book. “Thankfully everyone in the cover meeting loved the illustrated approach, and with just a few tweaks it was sent off to the man himself for approval.”
The stylish cover has been highly praised within the design community. A tweet from Creative Review to name just one. “I was really excited to have been given a chance to work on a cover like this. It's been so amazing to see such a positive response to the jacket!” she tells Spine. “I am looking forward to getting my hands on a copy.” So are we, Lauren Wakefield! So are we.
Lucy Davies is a recent graduate with a Bachelor of Arts Honours degree in Graphic design from Falmouth University in the UK, where she focused on book and editorial design. She aspires to be a book cover designer.