first cosmic velocity
First Cosmic Velocity by Zach Powers is an imaginative novel about the Cold War and the Russian space program. As the lead promotional designer for this title, I had the opportunity to design digital posters, a patch design, a cover animation, and more to market this to the public. A major design inspiration for all materials was Soviet propaganda posters from the 1960s.
patch design
Keeping in mind the style inspiration of 1960’s Soviet propaganda posters, I developed three possible patch designs to be made for this book. I was limited to 6 colors max for the design, while trying to tell a story through the design. The premise behind the book is that the Russian space program sends one twin to space (and to certain death), and keeps the other twin on Earth to do a press tour. In two of the designs I featured twins as a nod to the story. I’ve mocked-up the three design options below. The final design that was chosen was the center design. I then chose corresponding Pantone colors to best match the digital design when the physical product was made.
digital posters
Our marketing team decided to create a set of digital posters to promote this novel. Using the color scheme from the novel, and taking inspiration from a mood board of retro space posters, I illustrated the below posters to be shared across social media.
cover animation
I took the cover files, then organized and separated the individual elements, so they could be used in a cover animation. The dynamic red bars coming across the novel feel strong and powerful, which are the exact tones I believe this cover is trying to evoke. I later repurposed the animation to be used for a banner image on Penguin Random House’s internal website.
