Front+Cover



The solid, stoic colors and graphic image choices are designed to appeal to an adult demographic. Because of the many editions of “The Jungle” available on the internet and the many different books and covers to compete with on the commercial shelf, this cover works to be jolting and eye catching in appearance. The design is made to distinguish its cover from the rest of the book shelf. Even the spine carries the same grabbing image of straight lines in high contrast to the adjacent colors in order to catch the eye. In addition, the jolting images are a modern design. This implies that the content within the book is relevant in a modern society and still culturally significant.

The choice of the animal head on the cover reflects the contemporary relevance of the novel. The image stresses the argument of animal rights brought to light in the novel’s graphic descriptions of a slaughterhouse. The original cover and original cultural context, however, stressed the atrocious working conditions and how they were underlined and exacerbated by the required cruelty to animals. Now, in the new century, the working conditions of Americans are regulated and defended stringently. In contrast, animal rights are a polarizing topic and are still being argued and defended. The cover uses this emotional topic in its strong and dramatic image of the stand alone, black outlined cow head demanding the space on the cover.

The movement on the cover is a battle between the animal head and the title which creates a dramatic image. The brightness in the eye of the animal draws the viewer immediately while the diagonal arrangement of the head points the viewer’s eye towards the title. The title’s font has small points pulling the ends of the letters moving the eye back towards the animal head. Within this movement, we are interrupted by the author’s name, which is downplayed with no major contrast but in the black; blending the name with the title’s background above. The cover’s large bare muscle animal head creates curiosity and an immediate emotional response. The cover intends to use that emotional response to encourage picking up the book to see how such a vivid image connects to the story within. Disequilibrium is created by the head being taken out context and emphasized in an empty space. This emphasizes the head even more and makes a more grotesque display. More subtly, the font is reminiscent of a diner’s welcoming neon sign because of its layers of color and brightest on the outermost layer. By relating back to a typically welcoming atmosphere of good food and service the effect of the underlining carcass quells the welcoming effect. In addition, the color behind the head contrasts with the black behind the title. This odd shade of blue is sickly and when juxtaposed with the animal head becomes reminiscent of disease.

Some people, however, may not be disgusted by the image and may not relate the head to where their food comes from. In this case, the image of the head will be a shock factor that the publisher chooses to inspire in the viewer. The sharp outline of the head and the curious microscope view prominent on the back, initiate the shock by projecting these images with nothing else on the covers to combat their stark power. In contrast, some people may relate the front image to where their food comes from. The eyeball on the cover doesn’t allow these viewers to distance themselves from the animal that feeds them. By purposefully including the eye in the image, it plays on the ideology of animal rights and the implications of animal slaughter. Even though the front interprets as an image of death, the image chosen relates to all points of view by being out of context. The back cover adds more information to the cover image and creates a larger story. The image on the back is reminiscent of a microscope image or a petri dish, which evokes images of the unseen in the world around us. When connected to the front image, the correlation to the meat industry is strengthened.