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BOOK COVER IDEAS FOR THE CATCHER IN THE RYE

xingyu zhong
Oct 11, 2017
3 min read

Our third project in Brand Design 1 class is designing a book cover for the famous novel, the Catcher in the Rye. Actually, when I heard the name of this book, I had no idea what it is about. I was thinking about "is it only famous in USA?" But, when I got home and search the name online, I found I knew this book. I only knew its Chinese name though, it is "麦田里的守望者". My Chinese teacher in middle school used to refer this book to us. I remember I even went to the library to find this book to read. But I couldn't finished it because it was not interested to me and kinda hard to understand what it tried to express. And now, I remember nothing about this book but its Chinese name. So, I did some research about the book.

"The Catcher in the Rye is a 1951 novel by J. D. Salinger. A classic novel originally published for adults, it has since become popular with adolescent readers for its themes of teenage angst and alienation." It was also forbidden in schools between 1961 and 1982 because of "Holden's frequent use of vulgar language, with other reasons including sexual references, blasphemy, undermining of family values and moral codes, encouragement of rebellion, and promotion of drinking, smoking, lying, and promiscuity." But, overall, the Catcher in the Rye is a very popular and famous book around the world now.

The book itself is about a 16 years old, New York boy named Holden Caulfield's story. He leaves his prep school in Pennsylvania and goes underground in New York City for three days. The book is his description about what happened in these three days and what he was thinking during it. It represents the teenager's complicated struggle during the transition from childhood to adulthood. He wanted and tried to bend in the adult world by acting like them, but in the meanwhile, hated all those hypocritical actions and wanted to keep the innocence as a child has. One important phrase in the book is Holden said, "I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be." That is how the name of the book came, and it also reflects the character's real desire is to keep the innocence. And I also feel the loneliness, sadness and confusion of the teenage that Holden was expriencing there.

There are some symbols in the book:

The rye: children's innocent world;

Holden's red hunting hat: It is inseparable from our image of Holden, with good reason: it is a symbol of his uniqueness and individuality. it shows that Holden desires to be different from everyone around him. The presence of the hat mirrors the central conflict in the book: Holden’s need for isolation versus his need for companionship.

The museun of natural history: represents the world Holden wishes he could live in, a world where nothing ever changes, where everything is simple, understandable, and infinite.

The ducks in the central park lagoon: the ducks represents the curiosity of youth and a joyful willingness to encounter the mysteries of the world. The ducks vanish every winter, but they return every spring, thus symbolizing change that isn’t permanent, but cyclical.

Here are some book covers for the Catcher in the Rye that I found:

I think, republishing this book, the audience will be high school teenagers and also adults who want to reread it. Therefore, the design of the book cover should be a modern and fresh style. also focus on the feeling that the book content gives, which I think it is lonely, sad and confused. As the color, I think it should include the symbols' colors like red, yellow, white, black, grey.

Here are the moodboards:

Style: