In Cold Blood: A True Account of a Multiple Murder and Its Consequences by Truman Capote
Unlike for the other book cover design for this live competition set by this client this brief aims for a different outcome style to the over design for the fiction book 'To Kill A Mockingbird' . For the cover for that category the brief set the decription as a unique ambiguous link to the story-line where as for this cover the brief explains Penguin are looking for a more straight forwards obvious representative. The brief set this by explaining how the are looking for the cover which 'should be bold, maybe even shocking, yet remain true to the book, reflecting both its literary merit and its chilling content.'
In aim to create a visually representative cover therefore the book content, writing style, tone of voice and theme needs to be explored in depth. Why the book was so shocking, why it became so famous as well as the content could all be relevant or influence the conceptual cover design. The ideas for the cover designs will be constructed via the book's text combined with other contextual research which will influence the design style aesthetics.
Main Points Taken via primary Book Research
It was pointed out that for these brief even though there may be many different entries not many people will read or buy the book it's self so doing this can give a direct advantage, reading the full book and studying the content of a hard copy rather than just summaries online can inform and give more information about the story therefore the Books for both these categories where bought a read.
-All the material in the book comes from the authors observations, official records or as a result of interviews from people directly concerned, the book is based of a true violent and dangerous story the therefore the cover should reflect this serious tone of voice, making sure not to offend anyone involved. REAL LIFE ISSUE, BE SERIOUS
Points Taken from Summaries
Although reading the book will give more in-depth detail into the content summaries online have also been studied, this is to highlight any feature or facts missed. Also this will explain the storyline in more depth whilst setting the tone of the responses the audience have to the book. Give a wider range of views rather than my own personal opinion. Also this could give more background knowledge into the book and the author, the time set, and the story.
'In Cold Blood is a non-fiction novel by American author Truman Capote, first published in 1966; it details the 1959 murders of four members of the Herbert Clutter family in the small farming community of Holcomb, Kansas.
When Capote learned of the quadruple murder, before the killers were captured, he decided to travel to Kansas and write about the crime. He was accompanied by his childhood friend and fellow author Harper Lee, and together they interviewed local residents and investigators assigned to the case and took thousands of pages of notes. The killers, Richard "Dick" Hickock and Perry Smith, were arrested six weeks after the murders and later executed by the state of Kansas, and Capote ultimately spent six years working on the book. When finally published, In Cold Blood was an instant success, and today is the second-biggest-selling true crime book in publishing history, behind Vincent Bugliosi's 1974 book Helter Skelter about the Charles Manson murders.
Some critics consider Capote's work the original non-fiction novel, though other writers had already explored the genre, such as Rodolfo Walsh in Operación Masacre (1957). It has been especially lauded for its eloquent prose, extensive detail, and simultaneous triple narrative, which describes the lives of the murderers, the victims, and other members of the rural community in alternating sequences. The psychologies and backgrounds of Hickock and Smith are given special attention, as well as the complex relationship that existed between them during and after the murders. In Cold Blood is regarded by critics as a pioneering work in the true crime genre, though Capote was disappointed that the book failed to win the Pulitzer Prize. Critics have also noted that parts of the book, including important details, differ from the real events.'
where - Kansas
what - 4 Murders, 2 Killers
when - 1959
features/idea from this summary - 3 narratives, 6 weeks to capture and 6 years to write, 1000's of notes, interviews local residents and investigator, wrote/started before the capture, gives information on psycholgies and background of the murders.
Crime Summary -
'Herbert Clutter was a widely respected self-made man, who had established a successful and prosperous farm in western Kansas from modest beginnings. He employed as many as 18 farmhands, and former employees reportedly admired and respected him for his fair treatment and good wages. His four children—three girls and a boy—were also widely respected in the community. The elder daughters, Eveanna and Beverly, had moved out of their parents' home and started their adult lives. The two younger children, Nancy, 16, and Kenyon, 15, were high school students living at home. Clutter's wife, Bonnie, a member of the local garden club, had been incapacitated by clinical depression and physical ailments since the births of her children, although this characterization of her has been disputed by surviving family members.
Two ex-convicts recently paroled from the Kansas State Penitentiary, Richard Eugene "Dick" Hickock and Perry Edward Smith, committed the robbery and murders in the early morning hours of November 15, 1959. A former cellmate of Hickock's, Floyd Wells, had once worked as a farmhand for Mr. Clutter, and had told Hickock about a safe at the farmhouse where he claimed Herb Clutter kept large amounts of cash. Hickock soon hatched the idea to rob the safe (which he believed contained as much as ten thousand dollars), leave no witnesses, and start a new life in Mexico with the cash. According to Capote, Hickock described his plan as "a cinch, the perfect score." Hickock later contacted Smith, another former cellmate, about committing the robbery with him.The information from Wells ultimately proved to be false, however, since Herb Clutter did not keep cash on hand, had no safe, and did all his business by check, to keep better track of transactions.
After driving more than four hundred miles across the state of Kansas on the evening of November 14, Hickock and Smith arrived in Holcomb, located the Clutter home, and entered through an unlocked door while the family slept. Upon rousing the Clutters and discovering there was no safe, they bound and gagged the family and continued to search for money, but found little else of value in the house. Still determined to leave no witnesses, the pair briefly debated what to do; Smith, notoriously unstable and prone to violent acts in fits of rage, slit Herb Clutter's throat and then shot him in the head. Capote writes that Smith recounted later, "I didn't want to harm the man. I thought he was a very nice gentleman. Soft spoken. I thought so right up to the moment I cut his throat." Kenyon, Nancy, and then Mrs. Clutter were also murdered, each by a single shotgun blast to the head. Hickock and Smith left the crime scene with a small portable radio, a pair of binoculars, and less than fifty dollars in cash.
Smith later claimed in his oral confession that Hickock murdered the two women. When asked to sign his confession, however, Smith refused. According to Capote, he wanted to accept responsibility for all four killings because, he said, he was "sorry for Dick's mother." Smith added, "She's a real sweet person." Hickock always maintained that Smith committed all four killings.
On the basis of a tip from Wells, who contacted the prison warden after hearing of the murders, Hickock and Smith were identified as suspects and arrested in Las Vegas on December 30, 1959. Both men eventually confessed after interrogations by detectives of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. They were brought back to Kansas, where they were tried together for the murders. Their trial took place at the Finney County courthouse in Garden City, Kansas, from March 22 to March 29, 1960. They both pleaded temporary insanity at the trial, but local GPs evaluated the accused and pronounced them sane. The jury deliberated for only 45 minutes before finding both Hickock and Smith guilty of murder. Their conviction carried a mandatory death sentence at the time.
After five years on death row at the Kansas State Penitentiary (now known as Lansing Correctional Facility) in Lansing, Kansas, Smith and Hickock were executed by hanging just after midnight on April 14, 1965. Hickock was executed first and was pronounced dead at 12:41 a.m. after hanging for nearly 20 minutes. Smith followed shortly after and was pronounced dead at 1:19 a.m. Warden Greg Seamon presided over the executions in Lansing. The gallows used in their executions now forms part of the collections of the Kansas State Historical Society.
Hickock and Smith are also suspected of involvement in the Walker family murders, a notion which is mentioned in the book, though this connection has not been proven.'
via https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Cold_Blood
features/idea from this summary - include details/representation of the crime, slit throat is a very bloody way to die, no safe/no money/left with less than £50, both got the death sentence and died, very violent!, range of lies, crimial history, imagery from the crime, both pretended to be crazy, sentenced quick
After research into the serious nature of the crime which has heavily influenced the content of the book as the Client are aiming for a book which represents this serious violent nature a more type-heavy, none illustrative style of cover would fit the brief and the book more effectively. This is as to directly express to the audience the tone of voice whist representing the lives lost in a more respectful manner as the final cover need to show the dreadful nature of this crime where as more illustrative cover could be seen to play down the cover or to give the impression of a fiction crime novel. As this is a real crime either the real crime images or type should be used mostly to achieve this.
Amazon review, as the brief consideration is the book being sold on amazon the amazon site review need to fit with the tone of voice of the cover, this needs to reflect the same theme and tone of voice to make the book sell-able on this platform as the Client clear aims it to be.
‘The chilling true crime 'non-fiction novel' that made Truman Capote's name, In Cold Blood is a seminal work of modern prose, a remarkable synthesis of journalistic skill and powerfully evocative narrative published in Penguin Modern Classics.
Controversial and compelling, In Cold Blood reconstructs the murder in 1959 of a Kansas farmer, his wife and both their children. Truman Capote's comprehensive study of the killings and subsequent investigation explores the circumstances surrounding this terrible crime and the effect it had on those involved. At the centre of his study are the amoral young killers Perry Smith and Dick Hickcock, who, vividly drawn by Capote, are shown to be reprehensible yet entirely and frighteningly human.
Truman Capote (1924-84) was born in New Orleans. He left school when he was fifteen and subsequently worked for The New Yorker, which provided his first - and last - regular job. He wrote both fiction and non-fiction - short stories, novels and novellas, travel writing, profiles, reportage, memoirs, plays and films; his other works include In Cold Blood (1965), Music for Chameleons (1980) and Answered Prayers (1986), all of which are published in Penguin Modern Classics.
If you enjoyed In Cold Blood, you might like Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs' And the Hippos were Boiled in their Tanks, also available in Penguin Modern Classics.
'It is the American dream turning into the American nightmare ... By juxtaposing and dovetailing the lives and values of the Clutters and those of the killers, Capote produces a stark image of the deep doubleness of American life ... a remarkable book'
Spectator
'On 15 November 1959, the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, a wealthy farmer, his wife and their two young children were found brutally murdered. Blood all over the walls, the telephone lines cut, and only a few dollars stolen. Heading up the investigation is Agent Al Dewey, but all he has are two footprints, four bodies, and a whole lot of questions.
Truman Capote's detailed reconstruction of the events and consequences of that fateful night, In Cold Blood is a chilling, gripping mix of journalistic skill and imaginative power.
'The American dream turning into the American nightmare. A remarkable book' Spectator
'One of the most stupendous books of the decade' Sunday Express' via https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/24378/in-cold-blood/9780241956830/
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