FANOCRACY and the evolution of the book's cover design
FANOCRACY: Turning Fans into Customers and into Fans by David Meerman Scott & Reiko Scott
David Meerman Scott's newest book, "FANOCRACY: Turning Fans into Customers and into Fans," will be released to the public on January 7, 2020. The book, co-written with his daughter Reiko explores the concept of 'fandom' as it applies to the world of business.
Here is how the book is described on the FANOCRACY website:
"Fanocracy means turning fans into customers and customers into fans. Fanocracy means an organization that puts the needs and wishes of fans ahead of every other priority. Applying the strategies in Fanocracy will make your company more likely to dominate your category and win business. And beyond the financial benefits, a Fanocracy spreads more joy and inspiration to the world at large."
Over a year ago, I began working with David and Reiko on the Fanocracy project. The concept, initially code-named 'Fandom,' was first rolled out during David's recent speaking tour. One of my first assignments was to develop a treatment of 'Fandom' that would eventually morph into 'Fanocracy' as the book's release date was announced.
For those unfamiliar with book publishing, in most cases, the publisher hires the cover designer and has ultimate control over the final packaging of the product. In this case, freelance designer Catherine Casalino took the lead role, and I accepted a collaborative secondary position, injecting textual, and visual feedback whenever necessary.
The finished product is shown above. Below are concept sketches that I provided as we weaved our way through the creative process. One thing to always keep in mind when viewing a finished design is that over time there have been many process steps that have contributed to the final result.
For David's speaking engagements and while the term "Fanocracy" was under wraps, the word "Fandom" was used. This sketch depicts various fan groups, and the magnet symbolizes the drawing together of individuals who amass in the following of artists (F), sports teams (A), musical groups (N), etc.
Once the cat was out of the bag, “Fandom” quickly metamorphosized into “Fanocracy.””
As we began to work on book cover concepts, we discussed how laptop computers had become a platform for expression through the use of stickers.
Although seemingly not as popular today as they were during the Punk scene of the 1980s, buttons have often served as message delivery vehicles.
Here is an example of the same button concept boiled-down to a minimalist view.
Rather than focussing on a single button, we furthered the concept by using several buttons, each describing a different category of fandom.
The simplicity of the concept is appreciated but possibly emphasizes too strong a following and borders on fanatical.
While we are on the subject of hands, the 'foam finger' was introduced as a subject for exploration.
Then we tried lots of hands!
During the concept noodling phase, another direction was the T-shirt, a widespread means of explaining one's self. Here is is in photographic form.
At this point, I am sure that the linkage to the finished cover is quite apparent. For additional visual interest, baseball hats, also a vehicle to express fandom, were added to the final concept. Voila!