Fandoms surrounding the favorite books of teenagers have been a prominent part of culture since the Harry Potter books. Now, most well-loved series have some kind of derivative fandom surrounding them, but the Harry Potter fandom is by far the most expansive example of this. Years ago, Harry Potter fans pushed past the creation of art, parody musicals, and actual sports, and they went a step further by channeling their love for the books into the creation of an activist group.
The Fault in Our Stars
Cultural Differences, as Told through Popular YA Cover Design
By Terence Brierly
One would think these principles of cover design to be universal, and yet I’m staring at a couple Japanese novels on my desk, and can’t help but wonder if the standards of design are a little bit different (read: awesome) there. Japanese bestsellers, especially foreign titles, are often printed as bunko, which are similar in form and function to mass market paperbacks in the West. They do tend to be a bit shorter and slimmer than Western paperbacks however, and are usually only about two hundred pages long. Because of this length restriction, many Western bestsellers are often split up into multiple volumes. These criteria mean that cover designers have less space to work on per book, but potentially more books available. You might also notice an almost universal trend of more numerous and larger typographic elements on Japanese covers. As my team has been working on a YA cover, I’m specifically interested in that market. As a teaching example of YA cover design differences between Japan and America, one need look no further than America’s favorite dystopian series about ritual teen murder and bird-themed rebellion: The Hunger Games.