Book Cover Group Crit

Presenting Roughs

I entered the crit feeling confident in my approach to roughing.

Last time we'd been challenged to make roughs, I don't think I'd spent enough time considering media or creative processes of adding colour. This time, I committed myself to the task of roughing the book cover as a design rather than just a concept.

 Feedback:

Strong concepts & exploration of your ideas

Excellent use of collage & media

Experimenting as a designer

3D Creates illusion

Things I've Learned/Seen

Kieran's in-depth understanding of his subject was inspiring and he was clearly heavily interested in his topic, which shone through in his roughs. Keep reading your book and feed it into your work.

Beth's characters really spoke to me. I loved her charming representation of Mexican festivals, but we thought she should spend more time exploring colour and media. Fiestas are all about colour and vibrancy!

Lizzie's really delicately crafted drawings and beautiful hand-drawn type. Make your own type! I've relied on computer generated type but hand-drawn typography might work better. Have a go.

Kate's process of cutting and pasting characters onto backgrounds allowed her to play with composition and 'mix & match' elements. I used a similar process and would like to continue this experimental and playful approach to building images.

Josh invested his efforts into the tone of the book and reflecting this content in his work. What is the tone of my book? Does my cover communicate this as well as attract readers? My concept is much more abstract than Josh's, so doesn't have an immediate motif like his Mickey Mouse.

It's difficult to be innovative as a book designer. We see so many books that what is 'right' is ingrained in our minds already; risky is considered as wrong. You have to be brave to do something outrageously different. 

TO REMEMBER NEXT TIME YOU ROUGH

The quality of the rough dictates aesthetic interest.

Finished, coloured roughs appeared more appealing and swayed the decisions of which roughs we liked the most, while other roughs which may have been better in terms of concept but lacked a finished quality were overlooked. I think I've roughed a lot better this time and it has benefited the level of feedback I recieved from my peers. It has also provided me with a great starting point for producing my final book cover as I already have a detailed plan to work from, including colour and media considerations.

ALSO THINK ABOUT THE LEGS OF THE JACKET SLEEVE. I left these completely blank, forgetting about the space I was wasting. I'm going to have to use some time this week to draft designs for these extra parts of the cover that wrap inside.

Illusion 

The thing that my peers liked about my 'magic rabbit' concept was that it created an illusion. I think that this is the most effective book cover because it is so intruiging. I recieved comments that people would want to read the book because it is so weird and unusual.

Pinpointing this sense of intrigue and mystery, this is what seems to attract me to anything. I am interested in books that are unusual and make me feel curious. I want to know more, so I pick it up.

Return to What You Enjoy

Two of my book covers were left at the end of our discussion. The group were torn between my rabbit cover and the cliff cover. We couldn't decide which cover I should move forward with because they both had potential, but I have chosen the one that I enjoyed making the most: the magic rabbit.

 I enjoy making curiosities. I want to continue doing this.

I've been using Pinterest to collect curiosities and 3D dioramas which intrigue me in a similar way:

Karly Perez
http://www.karlyperez.com/dolls.html



Purely creepy, beautiful little dolls. They photograph so easily and their hair is so delicate - what material has been used there?
Perez uses ceramics and resin to cast her dolls and is able to make multiple 'mimics' by making moulds. Clever lady. I'm not using figures in this book cover, but her process is commercial and very clever. These dolls draw attention because of their weird proportions and skewed limbs. A good way to evoke curiosity.

Mr Finch

[Source: http://www.juxtapoz.com/current/oh-mister-finch]
His textile sculptures are so realistic and beautiful. They have character, but they're not anthropomorphic or cartoon-ified (if that's even a word). They are simply lifelike creatures. I'd like to make my rabbit into something similar.

Don't Go Digital!

Our next brief will be centred around digital media. I'm enjoying analogue processes, so stick with it. You can produce a good cover without using digital methods. The beauty is in the handmade.

I'm really pleased with how confidently I spoke and presented my work in the group crit today. I really struggled with crits last year, but today I managed to pluck up the nerve to