OVERVIEW
The Nancy Drew book series is a classic set of mystery stories. The series has been revised and updated several times since its original publishing in 1930, but the books have continued as an inspiration for girls to push past their limits and fearlessly explore the unknown around them. Penguin Random House wanted to update the cover design to appeal to the target audience of today’s girls, ages 7–12.
APPROACH
Because there are over 170 books in the Nancy Drew series, I made sure to create a system that could be easily applied to all of them. To differentiate from previous covers that were done in a sketched, vintage illustration style, I chose a more modern and conceptual approach, locking simple vector illustrations in with several different typefaces to display each individual book title. Wanting to maintain some brand equity from past editions, I retained the iconic header containing the series name, but with updated typography. I chose Miller, a highly readable transitional typeface with lots of sparkle, for the primary typeface. I used a brighter color palette to appeal to the younger audiences.
