The Red House
A book cover for a fictional YA thriller surrounding a red house in the woods.
About the Project
Inspired by various YA thrillers I have read throughout my life, it was natural to make my first book cover project for a YA thriller novel.
“The Red House” is a fictional novel that surrounds a group of students encountering a lonesome house so strikingly red in the middle of the woods.
Ideation/sketch
I knew for a fact that I wanted to make it a minimalist book cover, yet still encapsulate the tension and importance of the red house.
Throughout the ideation and sketching phase, several ideas have come to fruition, but what many of them had in common is that the house is the focal point and is strikingly obvious.
Design #1
Ominous, prominent colours
“cabin in the Woods” Silhouette
As the house is the primary focus point, I wanted it to stand out within its environment. By keeping a monochromatic colour scheme of red and various shades of grey, the red house stands out through contrast.
Additionally, I wanted to communicate the premise through the cover as much as possible and this is achieved with the simple rendering of a house-like silhouette, trees, and the moon. The dark colours and typography subtly hint at the thriller genre.
Design #2
extreme perspective, domineering silhouette
cutout-style, organic typography
An alternative design leans towards the teen thriller genre instead of YA. Using an extreme perspective of the house’s silhouette shows its domineering nature as it appears to stand taller than the surrounding trees in the woods.
To further play in the teen thriller genre, an organic, cutout-style typography is used to hint at a “less serious” tone.