Michel Vrana on Designing Misconduct of the Heart
Michel Vrana is a graphic designer who ran his own boutique studio for ten years before deciding to go freelance in 2009 to concentrate on his passion: creating book covers. Here he talks us through his process for designing Misconduct of the Heart.
When art director Jessica Albert at ECW Press sends assignments my way, she always includes a selection of comparable titles with the design brief. For Cordelia Strube’s darkly comic novel, set in a diner-style chain restaurant, many of the comps had a quirky quality, and almost all had big, bold, and colourful type. Along with the comps, there was also an adorably off kilter photo included, with the note:
“There’s a photo of a bird shopping for booze in the comps folder. Sounds odd but this is the visual image that the author has in her mind to represent the tone of this book. You can use this image literally, or just to get a vibe”
I really liked the attitude of that little sparrow and hoped to come up with a cover that kept that, as Jessica put it, ‘vibe’. With that in mind, I wanted to illustrate the diner setting of the novel, and play off the evocative title Misconduct of the Heart. I also appreciated that the author was open to the image being used as inspiration, and not necessarily literally.
The first idea that came together brought together many of the elements that would make it onto the final cover: the line-up of condiments, and a napkin dispenser with sparrow perched atop. The defiant sparrow hints that there’s something just a little bit different about this particular story. The pink background reinforces the word ‘heart’ in the title, and contrasts nicely with the black and white image assemblage. Finally, the title is set as though it’s the tally of the guest check, complete with ‘a novel’ instead of the usual ‘thank you’ at the bottom of the check.
The second is an alternate take of the guest check concept with a squished ketchup packet that speaks to the chaos within the story, with off-white background to give some contrast to the white packet. The ketchup splat looks a little like heart shape that in retrospect I ought to have made more obvious.
The third idea brings in the bold and colourful type that the comparable titles had. For visual balance the word ‘Heart’ in the title get the most emphasis, with the remainder of the type being in the same handwriting style from the ‘guest check’ versions. The image works better here in full colour to echo the brighter title treatment. I like to play with the ‘a novel’ line in some way, and having it as a word balloon hints at the humour in the book.
This would be the winning comp, with a few tweaks:
The author was concerned that ‘Misconduct’ was getting lost. Thankfully, a red underline gives it the prominence it requires without throwing off the balance of the design. Some people at the publisher suggested the napkin dispenser wasn’t reading as such, so adding in a new, textured napkin helps. The background is slightly darker, and there’s a subtle gradient near the bottom of the cover to give some depth. A second script typeface was introduced to help with readability, notably with the ‘r’s, and to make the script feel more organic.
Final cover
The final book is matte laminated with spot varnish on the word ‘Heart’, the word balloon, and the photographic elements. The cover type is carried over to the spine, and a drop cap on the back cover echoes the design on the front. I’d like to think that somewhere there’s a sparrow browsing bookshelves and it chirps with pleasure at finding Cordelia Strube’s Misconduct of the Heart.
Full cover
Editor, artworker and lifelong bibliophile.