OUGD603 - Research led brief - Front cover ideas

For the front cover design I wanted it to be simple and functional, as in the past I've created highly stylised covers that are just over designed and lacklustre. Including the title and some sort of visual to represent the book on a whole would work best. However, creating this 'visual' is the harder part as the book consists of a mix of images which without the title are a random bunch. Therefore, I thought more about the title and how that can be translated into a cover itself. The idea is that the cover represents 1945 and a devastated Japan, while the back cover shows a rebuilt Japan (1991). The content showcased throughout the book helped rebuild Japan, and I want to communicate this through the back and front cover. In the various alterations of this idea, you can see the circle of the Japanese flag fragmented and being put back together. Some are more literal than others with the use of arrows but even the more ambiguous options still communicate the idea.