Book Cover Project

11 November 2010

Language arts students and aspiring authors alike enjoy designing their own book covers in Graphics-Toolbox (GT). Teachers assign the project to students to allow them a creative way to show their understanding of their book and the literary themes it contains.

For students it is more fun to write a back cover summary and book reviews than it is to write a typical essay. Adding artwork adds an important creative element too. Even students who are not artists can use Graphics-Toolbox to manipulate graphics in an interesting and personalized way. The artwork on this cover was hand drawn - black lines on white paper - then scanned and the black and white colors swapped in GT.

The book cover was laid out in Graphics-Toolbox, and the summary and inside flap reviews were typed in MS Word and cut and pasted into the GT book cover layout. The final result was effective in proving to this 7th grader's teacher that he understood the book and possessed the artistic skills to create a book cover that looks like the real thing!