The Forward Book of Poetry
Our bright and graphical cover points the way forward for the celebrated poetry prize’s annual collection
Forward Prizes for Poetry are the most influential awards for new poetry in the UK and Ireland, honouring fresh voices alongside internationally established names.
Forward motion
Our intention was to make our cover for the 2022 collection an accessible and alluring object that would engage with anyone and everyone, regardless of their usual reading habits.
By adopting expressive yet simple geometric-led shapes and a vivid palette, we conceived a cover that would grab the attention of all prospective readers, even at the smallest of sizes—whether that be positioned ‘face-out’ within the narrow shelves of a vibrant independent bookshop or in the more faceless world of online retail, sat amongst a myriad of other covers.
We wanted to posit the word ‘Forward’ as an invigorating, celebratory call to action of the Prizes themselves and the poets they commend, and to explore this in ways that were unlike the covers that had come before. Here, our interpretation of the word inspired motifs of pointing hands—taking their lead from the historically familiar usage of this motif within public information signage, but expressed here as a contemporary, graphically-led reinterpretation.
The top hand, containing the book’s title, beckons the reader to turn the cover page and begin reading, and by bisecting the border that follows the shape of the book, the intention here was to create a further feeling of movement, and an illusion of something three-dimensional within the confines of a flat space.