Inspiration...

I then decided to look into book covers - initially because of my Pride & Prejudice theme but also because I found the ballet book below and was struck by the similarities between Ambrose and Kidston.

  Kay Ambrose, 50s designer/writer 

There is a great sense of fluidity within Ambrose's work which is further exemplified by the soft sweeps of outline that remind me a lot of watercolour. The figures are really very simple which matches the figures in the  Kidston cowboy print. The 4 shade colour scheme is incredibly soft and I like how the line drawings of the figures focuses more on the movement of the ballerinas and the body shapes.

 Coralie Bickford-Smith, a modern designer that works for Penguin books

Since I found Ambrose's design  by researching book covers I opted to research some more penguin book covers, I found some modern designs that have a lovely vintage quality to them.  The use of soft vintage backgrounds gives the whole design a period element. Bickford- Smith comments that she tried to keep the covers in keeping with the era's content which is why they feel like they are old fashioned. I really like the turquoise teapot design, the solid shape contrasts really well against the shaded flowers (which look a lot like Cath Kidston's floral designs) possibly due to the use of shading which helps to give the flowers a sense of realism. The White Hart Inn cover also reminds me of Kidston's print due to the lack of outline and the shapes of colour that help to generate a sense of light and dark. 

Bickford-Smith's Pride & Prejudice cover also maintains the old fashioned vintage style as is the covers above, as a pattern I think its a bit boring and I would never consider repeating one design over and over to generate a pattern. However swans have been used on the cover- and I am wondering if I should incorporate swans in my design instead of peacocks- although I thought that peacocks better conveys the 'pride' theme.