Percy Jackson and The Olympians

february, 2022

book design, illustration, typesetting

project overview

This was a project for my Advanced Graphic Design class in the winter of 2022. This project was an extensive redesign for the covers for the first three books, and some of the front matter and early chapters, from the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan. I go over the process of pitching and proposing my design concept, including my research, market analysis, and target audience, as well as the finished cover designs and interior layouts.

process

research

For my research, I did a comparison and analysis of young adult fantasy books that were published contemporarily with The Lightning Thief (2005), as well as young adult fantasy that had been published recently, that way I could note very general trends and motifs as they once were and how they have evolved over time.

A variety of YA fantasy books published in 2005.

A collection of YA fantasy books published in and around 2022.

Two of the changes and developments in design style I noticed was:

Title blocks have become more ornate and decorative over time. This probably was what surprised me the most
Illustration styles have become diversified over the years. In 2005, fantasy covers enjoyed a very well-rendered, realistic illustration approach. Nowadays, we see a lot of flat, vector-based illustration styles as design trends have evolved.

What I noticed that largely stayed the same was:

Common use of figurative illustration, using the cover to showcase glimpses of the world, or protagonist, or an important motif are common across fantasy covers
A cohesive use of colour schemes. Across both years, colour schemes are very cohesive and well curated on the cover

I wanted my project to lean into these general design trends more than leaning away from them; there is a reason why these styles are so common in the fantasy genre. I think that illustration adds a touch of craft, individuality and flavour to a book.

target audience

Primarily, Percy Jackson and the Olympians has an appeal towards a range of preteens aged 10 - 14; the books are written in a playful, first person point-of-view, and featuring a cast of characters largely in that similar age group. However, because the series was first published over fifteen years ago, the original readers have a lot of nostalgia for the books, and, because of that, adults are likely to publish a new edition of the series for their own children, or other young family members.

With the announcement of a television series adapting The Lightning Thief, and the twentieth anniversary on the horizon, I felt that a new edition of the series could entice both target audiences.

final deliverables

finished covers

The concept behind my project was fusing old, classical art motifs with the modern design styles of today; using older, artistic motifs would both highlight the Ancient Greek inspired world inside the series, and be interesting to younger and older readers alike. I wanted the illustration style to be very unique and stylised among the previous editions of The Lightning Thief, bringing in a new look to a classic and much beloved YA series.