Critique | Changes

Today I showed my work off to my classmates in order to get some feedback about possible improvements to be made. They were impressed with my work and complimented me on my typography choices and art style. 

Below is a list of improvements I have been suggested to work on for my book cover:

• Add roots
• Move both the title and blurb infront of the trees
• Darken foreground/background to create perspective
• Add more snow
• Rear cover needs footprints
• Book title on spine
• Authors name etc on front cover
• Create darkness at the end of the tree line

And here's the list that needs sorting on the poster:

• Capitalisation of "out now!"
• Change font
• Add snow at the top
• Add footprints

Photoshop | Poster Design

This evening I decided to continue working on my project and move onto getting the poster design up and running. Surprisingly after sitting down for a few hours I've come up with something I'm really happy with; this never usually happens. I decided to incorporate both the front and back cover onto my poster, and use some elements from my front cover to advertise the book itself. 

Having a large image of Mole gives someone, who's merely passing by a poster, something to grab their attention. And after all this is the exact job of the poster. I made a pair of fake 3d books using some simple techniques in Photoshop CS5, with these being the main focus of the poster it was essential they looks really top notch. 

I began by pulling in the front and back cover from Illustrator as a smart object. I soon realised these weren't editable and so I had to right click on the layers in the layer palette and convert them into raster layers (pixels). I then went to Edit - Transform - Perspective. This allowed me to add some perspective to each of the covers to begin my fake 3d style. I then made up two oblong shapes to act as the pages, and again I transformed them using the perspective function. After that I recoloured the oblongs with a dull sandy tone which I thought was a great match for a real book page. To finish these off I added some black lines from top to bottom on the oblong shapes to act as page lines using the line tool, and then finally some shadowing using the brush tool on a 0% hardness setting to create some contrast between the books and to add depth.

After that I added a large image of Mole in, and i also imported the snow pattern I created in Illustrator. Mole is the  lower centre piece to balance out the large text found at the top of the poster. I chose to use a serif font for the text as I found this most suitable for the crisp design I'd produced so far. I also think it is the most in keeping font style for the books themes. Finally I finished off by adding the authors name along with my name at the very bottom of the poster as I think its important to inclue both the designer and authors names and it helps to again balance the text on the top of the poster. Anyway, enough talking, here's the almost finished product, although I know there will be a big list after crit tomorrow. 

Illustrator | Book Cover MK1

Here's my design so far. Notable changes to be made before handing in are:

• Add tree roots
• Red eyes for stoats and foxes 
• Consider shadowing the floor
• Mole's footprints
• Add missing text elements from the front cover

But apart from that I'm really happy with how things have come along, it's just lacking the evil themes that I really wanted to highlight through the cover. 

Illustrator | Back cover

I utilised most of the elements from the front cover in order to make the back one, but by tweaking them slightly I've tried to create a different view on things.

I wanted it to seem as if you were looking at the front cover, but from the opposing point of view; out of the forest instead of in. In order to do this I thought I'd change the direction in which Mole's clothes are being blown by the wind, shrink him down to a correct scale for the perspective of the image and change the colour of the foreground to appear darker as if you were standing in the forest. Here's an image of what it looks like so far. The branches still need sorting out so that they don't cover up the blurb but you get a fairly good idea of what I'm aiming for.

Illustrator | Title Text

I have decided to continue with the font I chose in the first part of my font research; Mardian_Demo.

I found this font on dafont.com through the calligraphy category and it is now one my favourite fonts. I think it really suits this book cover design because of its hard serif style that so well compliments the other evil features, but then the swooping artistic lines of the type face add an element of class which is also featured in the book. 

After typing the title out I then had to work around the spacial restrictions of the cover. After some moving around I decided to have the title broken up into 3 parts as can be seen below. I really like the way I've positioned the text to look as if its behind the trees in perspective because it gives a great feeling of depth of the cover. To finish the title off I added a rectangle behind it so it had something to contrast against. I again went for a cold stone colour for it to continue the cold feel. 

Title Text

Below I've inserted a screenshot of the progression so far. I'm really happy with it after adding a few more trees in the background to give them some weight and I've started adding snow onto the branches because I feel they don't blend in very well at the moment. 

Progression

Illustrator | Trees

I started with the upper parts of my scenery today, creating the trees. They are the pinnacle of my book cover and its scary themes so I planned to have them completely bare as I always think trees with no leafs look much more intimidating, and they also had to fit in with the wintery theme. 

I used a bitmap image to trace around some of the branches of an actual tree as practise, and then I imported them into my book cover and began drawing the rest of the tree. To do this I used the pen tool as it allows for great accuracy. 

Once these outlines were finished I made replicas of them and mirrored them so I had two rows of trees to line the path Mole eventually would have to walk down. I then resized them in order to add a sense of perspective that would drag the readers eye into the middle of the cover where the title would eventually be seated.

Outlines

To me the trees definitely felt like they had something missing, so I started making a new brush with a bark style texture on it. Again this was inspired by David Petersens work but I put my own spin on it by making knots in the trees as I added more and more of the texture to the tree. 

Tree Texture

Textured rows

Illustrator | Snow

I began making the scenery for my book cover today, adding in the snow for Mole to be standing on was my first step. I decided to add a snowy texture onto the floor because it gives a sense of realism, and something for Mole to be positioned upon. Without this he looks as if he's just floating in mid air, and it also mean't I could add extra details such as foot prints, just like I've been inspired by in David Petersens work. 

To start with I created a scatter brush, and to do this I had to make some shapes using the shape tools in Illustrator. I decided to go with making 4 circular shapes all filled with cold colours. I chose 2 different shades of blue and grey to fill them with as I thought these would give enough contrast, but not stand out too much from anything else. I think it gives a great snowy texture like you get in reality, whilst still being in keeping with my art style.

Below is an image of the brush, the scatter brush options dialog box showing my customised settings, and finally at the bottom an image of Mole and the snow covered ground in front of him. 

To create the footprints in the snow I used a the brush tool with a fairly rough edged brush option. I then drew out a circle and resized it to match what I think should be the size of Mole's footprint. I think to improve these I could have added a very slightly darker shade of grey in the middle to act as a shadow, but apart from that I'm very happy with them so far. 

Illustrator | Mole

I began at the end of last week drawing out Mole in Adobe Illustrator CS4. I decided to use David Petersen's art style as a loose inspiration, but not to use it too closely. I took some inspiration from the colours found on a Mouse Guard front cover for Mole's clothing although I need to experiment with some other colours for the jacket as I think it might be too bright for what I want to convey. 

I used the pen tool to create the initial outline and then I went to the brushes palette to apply a more artistic brush. I found a brush which was perfect to use; slightly broken, rough and grainy. I really like the results I've gained from this and so I will be (hopefully) in the next post showing you how it looks with this brush all over my drawing. 

Inspiration | David Petersen

Source: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9VBANeDNB1XidF2wlr9Q-tRyA-brdCgG1ifh3e_kLEhqTwLIH01GAttDlt6pcz3oCRttUOw5d69YP_MSyTIS8q_rzOuJAWStZf-RLO7vhKBDveDPj3lGJ8pX6t8UWOsyI_ZNr3qoHT5n9/s1600/David+Petersen%25
2Bsample%2B1.jpg

I continued to look at forest imagery today. David Petersen is the illustrator of the Mouse Guard book I've looked into previously, and this image above is an extract from one of the books.

I really like the way he's illustrated the trees, the way the black background smothers and begins to eat away at the edges of the trees gives a fantastically sinister feeling to the image. This is something I'd like to take into my design.

Source: http://quietandred.blogspot.co.uk/2012
/04/art-by-david-petersen.html

Source: http://quietandred.blogspot.co.uk/2012
/04/art-by-david-petersen.html

Above are two more images that David Petersen has illustrated, both in the same style as before. The depth created by different sizes and shadows on the branches in both images is something I'm going to take on board for when drawing my cover out. I like the vignette used on the middle image, I may experiment with this but using it in the opposite way to that with the white being on the outside and the darker colour in the centre. 

Feedback | Pitch

Yesterday I pitched my concept and design choices to my group. After this discussed with the group about any ideas they supported, and those that they didn't.

One thing, that was obvious from the start of the conversation, was that my concept is strongly supported by the group, which i found very encouraging. They like the idea of creating a "fake 3D" view of the scene of Mole looking into the Wild Wood because it is something unique, which again answers one of the criteria that we are asked to meet in the brief for the competition. 

We then moved onto my design choices within my cover. Typography was adressed as being an issue because I had only chosen one font, yet I needed at least two for the cover. One to use for the title, and the other for the blurb text on the back. As I've chosen a serif font for the title I could either continue this with a smaller serif text on the blurb, or a sans-serif font. Within the next post I will have some experimentations to comment about. 

Overall I'm really happy with the feedback I've had from my classmates, its going to help me to develop my design further and iron out any creases I've created so far. 

Idea | Inspiration | Colour

I have finished drawing out a few different ideas in my sketchbook, and after pondering upon which one to do I came up with the idea of having Mole looking up into the trees of The Wild Wood on the front cover as he's about to walk in, and then on the back cover I would have the scene from the stouts point of view from inside The Wild Wood. On the spine I would like to have a tree to complete the 3D view of the scene. 

As I've mentioned before I really like the idea of doing a wrap around book cover that is a seamless image throughout, but with this idea of Mole looking into The Wild Wood it wouldn't work out so well.  I think the solution I've come up with is as unique as they come, which answers a big part of both the competition and the Uni brief criteria I've been given. Visualisations of this idea will be on their way soon!

Moving onto the choice of colour | I think I need to have something desaturated, with highlighted colours for the eyes of the Stoats and for Mole's clothing. Possibly have the scene with snow fall? Dim lighting is a must, without an ounce of sun showing to cheer things up. With these things in mind about lighting etc I've come up with some primitive colour palettes:

The top colour palette being for Mole and his clothing, and the bottom palette for the scenery. I chose as I said before to have fairly desaturated colours throughout to give the impressions of darkness and the unforgiving feeling that the scene in The Wild Wood has. I've deliberately chosen a light grey colour to contrast against the darker ones, which would also be perfect for snow if I so wish to have this as an element.

For Mole's clothing I had thought of having the green for his jacket, and a brick red colour for his scarf. I think his scarf should be blowing in the wind, and his stance should be as if he's walking against the wind whilst looking upwards in awe and fear at the opening of the woods. 

After having these thoughts I went on an inspiration hunt for the project, thinking about a book I'd read many years ago about a heroic mouse. I remember the art style being fantastic but unfortunately I couldn't find the name of it. Instead I found these images below of a cartoon book called Mouse Guard. I think these images are fantastic, especially the first one which is perfect imagery for my front cover if the own had been replaced for The Wild Wood and the mouse replaced with Mole. I really like the way the artist has created the irregular shapes for the snow and how the difference in opacity of each snowflake gives the image depth. 

Source: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WKkn5yjmZtk/T
pdQOSFN7tI/AAAAAAAAOKU/02D7PpuVd6Y/s1600/MG07.jpg

This second image is a real inspiration for me when it comes to the tree branches in The Wild Wood. I think these are fantastic, and I think the contrast between the detail of the Mice and the branches works so well. It isn't the way I would have initially thought about working had it not been blended so well with this fantastic art style, sheerly because I wouldn't have thought I could make it work. The foot prints are another on of my favourite elements of this drawing, each one unique with different amounts of snow cover depending upon how far away it is in the shot. 

Source: http://www.mouseguard.net/wp-content/uploads
/2011/02/wintercover-large.jpg

This third image is another perspective on the scene, it is here just as an example of the rendering on the clothing, and the subtle gradients on the fur of the animals. Again the background is helpful because of the tree element, although the trees aren't nearly gnarly enough for the book cover I want to do. 

Source: http://robot6.comicbookresources.com
/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/mouseguard3heroes.jpg

Research | Font

I began researching a very vital part of the visual language for my book cover today; Typography.

Source: http://www.namethatfont.net/wp-
content/uploads/2012/10/lordoftherings-large.jpg

To start with I thought where better to look than at some of the classic books which feature epic adventures. "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Chronicles of Narnia" both instantly spring to mind when I think about adventure, and as this is the element of TWINTW I want to emphasise on the cover I thought it was appropriate to look at these.

I think the use of serif font is the most obvious feature when you first begin to analyse these titles. Next I noticed the use of different size texts. The less important words being in a far smaller font than the main part of the name; "Narnia" or "Lord of the Rings". I think what's really interesting on top of the use of different size fonts for different words, is the use of different height lettering to create shape around the words in TLOTR's font face. This is something I will definitely experiment with in my sketchbook. The sharp serifs found in both of these fonts tell us about the dark/ evil in each of the stories, a strong element but something you wouldn't consciously think about to start with. Again this is something I really like about the visual language found in both of these fonts, and I will be taking these ideas further into my own design. 

Source: http://wegotthiscovered.com/wp-content/
uploads/narnia-the-voyage-of-the-dawn
-treader-movie-image-logo.jpg

After analysing those fonts above it was time to hunt for some of my own. I used "dafont.com" to do this, and after scrolling through pages upon pages of fonts I have quite a collection at my disposal. One font has jumped out at me more than all of the others though, and is highlighted below. It is called MardianDemo, and I think it provides me with a perfect selection of typographic elements to depict the story of The Wind in the Willows as I want to. 

The first thing that strikes me when I look at this font is the sharp horn like shapes created by the calligraphic style on base of the "W", and then to contrast this the sweeping serifs that flow away from the lettering at the top. I think the sharp horns on the base of the letters are going to perfectly depict the darker parts of the novel such as the scene I will be using on the book cover of The Wild Wood, with all the evil forest creatures attacking Mole. And to perfectly balance this out the long sweeping serifs found on the "T" and the top of the "W" will tell of a great hospitality and fun spring days on the river depicted in the story.  

Research | Existing Book Covers

Source: http://www.thelowry.com/Images/Brochure38

/Wind_in_the_Willows_main.jpg

Here are some images I found through searching for The Wind in the Willows book covers on the internet.

The first illustration sums up quite nicely the cliche imagery used on the book covers for this classic tale; Ratty and Mole in a boat on an idillic summers day underneath a Willow tree. I really like the art style the artist has used, a mixture of a photograph for the background, and then hand drawn characters on top.

Source: http://www.openlettersmonthly.com

/issue/wp-content/uploads/2009

/12/annotated_wind_in_the_willows.jpg

The next image is another cliche scene from the book, where Ratty and Mole are once more on the river in Ratty’s boat, although this time the colouring is desaturated which doesn’t make it seem like summer as much as the previous image. This is a step in the right direction for my idea of having a dark and unhappy scene for the book cover, which exposes some of the deeper themes in the book. The way Mole is drawn in this book cover is something I’m going to use as inspiration for my cover. He looks small, and his poise suggests that he is vulnerable.

 I like the way the typography has been laid out for this book cover, I think it is one of the more important design choices because even though the other design choices are cliche such as using bigger text to highlight the title, it doesn’t over power from any of the other text on the page because of the layout. It brings a less modern art style up to date in my eyes, by also utilizing the negative space of the water. A very subtle but clever move overall. 

Source: http://images.contentreserve.com/Image

Type-100/1087-1/%7B448802D4-5A63

-4384-9431-6E3680AB653D%7DImg100.jpg

The third image is something that is easily achievable with the tools I will be using for this project; Illustrator CS4 + Photoshop CS4. It has an up to date art style, utilizing what looks like a typical modernist vector drawing approach. I like the combination of baby blue and green in this cover, as these colours aren’t often combined. This could possibly catch the judges eye, and eventually the customers eye when they’re looking to buy a book.  I’m not a fan of the font choice at all, but I like the way the designer has made a triangular shape out of the authors name and the title of the book.

Source: http://ecx.images-amazon

.com/images/I/51PYSRSFQAL._SL500

_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-big,TopRight,

35,-73_OU02_.jpg

Here again is a cliche scene from the book. The reason I really like this one is because of the way the title is displayed on a big billboard style frame. The tree branches cover corners of it making it blend into the background of the scene but without making it obsolete. Its definitely an element I’m going to include in my book cover. I think it will be a focal point of my design having a path leading to it and trees covering the dead space around it in a scary manor. I really like the small willow tree logo in the billboard, it makes it seem like an advert for the book within the book and references the title at a glance.

The san-serif font works really well for this cover. I think it compliments the overall art style well because of the period they're both from. This way of working is something I'd like to mimik in my final cover design. In terms of a visual tie between the style of the drawing and the font I think the way the tree branches are advancing onto the frame really emphasises how well they fit together. Its a cliche but classic style. I'd like to reflect the classic part of the style, but try not to make it look too cliche. 

Choosing a Book | ?

After doing research into both of the books it's time to be decisive and come to a conclusion of which book I will be designing a cover for.

After reading the synopsis for both of the books I've decided that The Wind in the Willows is going to be my primary choice, and if I do have time I'll work on doing a cover for The Big Sleep. I read the opening passages of both books and was instantly more welcomed by The Wind in the Willows, and so I read on finding out about the characters and themes in more depth. I have chosen The Wind in the Willows because I felt there was a lot more scope for doing something different from the cliche covers that have been repeated time and time again, of the characters sitting on the river bank etc. I can see that there is a darker side to this novel that people haven't exposed as of yet, and that is what I aim to do. 

Source: http://www.illustrationartgallery.com/acatalog/MendozaW33.jpg

The Big Sleep | Shallow research

Author: Raymond Chandler

Publisher:  1939

Genre: Crime Novel

Source: http://sgbrowne.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Big_Sleep.jpg

The title  "The Big Sleep" is a euphemism for death, giving you the first clue of what the book is about. The fact there is a gun on this front cover too is another huge giveaway as this is something we nearly always associate with death. Moving onto research into the plot I found out that it is about a detective whom was asked to deal with a blackmailing. This original crime scene escalates when there are two murders the same night he goes to investigate the blackmailing. He begins to solve these murders and by the end he sees the bigger picture of who's blackmailing who. 


The themes of this book:

• Crime
• Blackmail
• Drugs
• Sex
• Gambling
• Murder
• Class

The Wind in the Willows | Shallow Research

Author: Kenneth Grahame

Genre: Children's Novel

Published: 1908

 

Source: http://www.paulfrasercollectibles.com/upload/public/docimages/Image/u/w/d/The-Wind-in-the-Willows.jpg

To start with I used Google to search for a synopsis of the book, along with information about the author, publishers and the genre of the book. The Wind in the Willows is about a group of 4 friends, 3 of which are trying to save the other from his own self destructive obsessions. This, for a children's book is quite a sinister element, teaching how money and greed can lead to loss friends and life. I may play on this aspect if I decide to design a cover for this book. 

Themes found in the book:

• Acceptance
• Hospitality
• Fear
• Power

AF101 | New Assignment

"Programme of Study:	FdA Digital Media Design
Module Code / Module Title:	AF101 Visual Communication
Assignment Title:	Book Cover
Value of Assignment:	100% of final Module Grade
Module Tutor:	George Hedges, Kate Williams, Andrew Williamson.

The Brief Design a book cover following a supplied competition brief (The Penguin Design Award) Then adapt this design into an A2 Poster, advertising the re-launch of the book. Following the requirements of the competition brief you should aim to design a striking cover design that is well executed, has an imaginative concept, an original interpretation of the brief, a strong use of typography and clearly places the book for its market. While all elements of the jacket need to work together as a cohesive whole, remember that the front cover must be effective on its own and be eye-catching within a crowded bookshop setting and on screen for digital retailers such as Amazon. You should go through a thorough, continuous process of research and experimental preparatory work before settling on a final image this process should be evidenced in your sketchbooks and your blog. Finished Designs  The image/s you create will need to be art-worked into a book cover design, to include the title, all supplied copy, logos and barcode. Therefore you will be required to use InDesign to add the editorial requirements listed in the competition brief. Work for entry into the competition must be supplied in the following format: PDF, 300dpi, CMYK, 5mm bleed, Ideally colour managed to ISO Coated 39 or ISO Uncoated 29 (optional), Trim and crop marks to be included, Max file size = 5mb. You are also asked to supply working files for marking purposes (not to be uploaded for the competition) We also require you to adapt your design into an A2 poster for marketing and promotion. Format = PDF. You are required to produce a ‘Branding Guideline’ for the book cover and poster. This will also be laid out in InDesign and saved out for submission as a PDF. Written statement about your Final design. (This can be done as a stand-alone entry in your Blog but must also be submitted as a word document.) Between 500 and 1000 words describing how the design you have created fits the competition brief (for the book you have chosen) and in particular what you were trying to communicate through your image, typography and layout etc. Deadlines and Key Dates On Monday 3rd December from 9.30am you will put forward your proposal for your chosen Book Cover And Poster Designs for discussion and evaluation.  This must include research, sketchbook and blog work for idea development and a concept you can pursue for your final Book Cover design. This must be a properly prepared presentation, using Keynote or Powerpoint, and must be submitted on Hercules at the start of this session. On Monday 7th January 2013 from 9.30 you will crit your final products to the whole group.  On Friday 11th January 2013 by 4.00pm – you will upload your final submission to the server and submit your sketchbooks for assessment.

Method of Assessment What you must produce: The Learning Outcomes will be met by submission of the following items and will be graded using the specific criteria listed below: On the Server (Hercules) – PDF of book cover. A2 PDF of the Poster, plus a folder containing all the editable working files (InDesign docs and psd/ai files) Sketchbook & Blog – evidence of research, preparatory work and final designs Written statement – 500-1000 words, double-spaced, Helvetica or Arial, as a Word doc/x or PDF" At first glance I'm very excited about this project, mostly because we'll be further developing our skills in Illustrator as well as learning some InDesign techniques. I'm quite undecided so far as to which book I'd like to design a book cover for. The Wind in The Willows is a story I know quite well compared with The Big Sleep, but I'm quite intrigued to find out more about the story of The Big Sleep.