The cat who saved books by Sosuke Natsukawa. Book design concept.
I read this novel on the weekend, and I was so inspired that I decided to create my own design for this book.
The main character is a high school student Rintaro. His grandfather and he run a bookstore. Rintaro is withdrawn and indecisive, hiding from the world in books until the day his grandfather died. Then a cheeky ginger cat shows up and asks Rintaro with a lot of persistence to help save the books.
I don't think the book-saving plot is the most important thing in the story. These events only help to drag Rintaro into "life" and get him to act. After all, no one else could have handled these tasks but him.
Here's a quote about Rintaro from the end of the novel, «Now he is well aware that the expression 'I have no choice' is an empty excuse, an excuse for your own inaction. If you want, you can choose, all the ways are open! There’s only one thing: either you choose yourself, or someone else will make the decision for you."
I started with cat sketches and a few book cover options. I was deciding whether to make the cover more detailed or keep it minimalistic, and I thought I'd go with the detailed one. The reason is that the book itself has no illustrations and has a lot of text. The cover illustration instantly brings the reader into the scene - the old bookstore.
At first, I wanted to create an early morning or evening sunset feel, but I couldn't make the bookstore seem old. It looked more like a modern store because of the rich, almost neon lilac colors.
Then I removed the background behind the house and concentrated only on the building. Warm, earthy colors worked well for this. These are the colors that old books, vintage furniture and interiors have. Old, but cozy look. Perfect!
I also made a pattern for the end papers and title design.
Thanks for watching
