Book Cover - Roughing

Why I Chose This Book

Interesting subject matter, attractive and simple book design.

I had no clue what the book was about; it intrigued me!

I didn't know that the task would involve re-designing the cover, but this brief sounded exciting. Lots of potential for creative ideas. I love books and I love to read but this does look like a hefty book to re-design!

Initial Ideas:

- culture, society, mobile phones, technology

- flourish, flowers, nature

- head, face, figure

-world, solar system, space

-maps, weather, geographical

- illusions, disappearing acts, magicians

Above: Paper cut experiments from my sketchbook.

Considerations

Things I tried to consider during the roughing process: 

- Using text. I played with different fonts and computer generated graphemes.

- Considering media. I had a go at paper cutting and digital collage before finding analogue solutions to each of my concepts.

-Considering colour. I intended to explore coloured variations of each of my concepts, but due to time constraints I only managed one colour rough of each concept.

- What am I trying to communicate? I read the book in the hope to understand the themes of this discourse.

- Attraction! How can I make my book cover stand out and appeal to the audience?

COMPOSITION. Book covers are about DESIGN. Think like a designer!

Above: Me changing my mind 10000 times and building on top of the original rough.

A destructive way of working, but it works.

In destroying former plans, I'm using them as foundations for a new castle.

Process Shots:

Bunny in a magician's hat! Made using papier mache and cotton. I wanted a real hat but made a quick card one and a miniature sized bunny to fit inside to work within the time limit.

Would like to improve the bunny. Bigger, creepier, more detail and fur.

I ended up not using the magpie model because it didn't suit the brief, It looked out of place and I felt disappointed in myself for wasting time making it... but I do enjoy making 3D creatures and versions of my illustrations. Maybe this little chap will come back around again.

Above: another scrapped rough. NOT WASTED TIME because it helped me to get to my final five ideas. Second-best ideas are stepping stones.

This would-be-rough was based on the concept of optical illusions. I like the idea but had concepts that were more prominent in my mind that I chose over this one.

My 5 Roughs:

Concept: 

Lost at sea - nautical collage reflecting the mass distraction and confusion caused by media, as discussed in the book.

Strengths: 

I really like the movement of the sea. The sea has direction and energy even though it is just a flat image, making the book itself seem exciting.

Innovative use of typography following the shape of the waves.

Weaknesses: 

Childish and cartoon-like. Looks like a fiction book rather than non-fiction.

Very small type.

Is this image relevant? Is it too far from the theme? The boat is too much of a symbol for sailing and pirates that it might confuse the reader.

Concept: 

Flourish - floral pattern

Strengths: 

Pretty and trendy.

William Morris-esque. Would definitely stand out on a bookshelf.

Nice type!

I like the idea of using a banner around the book to hold the text.

Weaknesses: 

Boring, not relevant.

Might not appeal to the audience of art students of both genders (I predict it would only appeal to old ladies and me)

Concept: 

Magician and 7 Magpies

(magical illusion & 7 secrets never to be told)

Strengths: 

Charming character

Weaknesses: 

They don't look like magpies!

I haven't thought about colour or media yet.

Poor composition, too much wasted space.

Character gives the suggestion of a children's book.

Rushed. I didn't spend enough time developing this idea.

Concept: 

On top of the world. Vantage points and perspective. The bigger picture.

Strengths: 

Quite deep semantics underlying the image - suicide and emotional distance.

Groovy collage.

Weaknesses: 

Look at composition more - would be good to have more white space at the top of the image, a bigger sky and sense of scale.

Use your own drawings for the collage.

Improve the silhouette.

Type just looks bland and formal. Make it interesting.

Concept: 

Rabbit Trick - magician's hat.

Strengths: 

Creepy, weird rabbit - intriguing.

Literal interpretation of distraction.

Weaknesses: 

The hat has been lost in the dark background.

Text is hard to read in some places.

Will people understand it?

Just black and white. Colour needed?

MORE TIME PLEASE! I'm having so much fun with this project, but it would be amazing to have more time. I know that I could keep exploring this theme and keep learning about my subject and never get bored. Getting bored is for boring people.

For now, I need to work with the time I have. My main aim is to develop an appropriate book jacket that I, myself, would be drawn to on a shelf.