Final Book Cover and Binding Design

Final Cover

Overall I am happy with the final outcome. It is very different to what I usually do, and I chose to stay away from actual imagery and motifs. The entire composition was made up of shapes and type. In my original sketchbook roughs there were some ideas I came up with that could have been really interesting with more development, but I didn't really have the time to do this.

Binding Design

Thankfully, adding the bleed to the design was very easy because my design was so simple. I had forgotten to do this initially but it worked out okay!

Final Spreads

4x Double page spreads

After doing the original character design for Momo I decided to change the colour of him, I wanted to add a mouth to describe his expression a bit better so the darker colour wouldn't really work. If I were to make these images again, I would make the pages a bit more varied from one another. The grey is the main colour across most of the images, which now looking at them all together, is a bit much. I am happy with the way my practice developed to include more experimental and playful characters.

Noughts and Crosses

I started off with the general shapes I wanted to include in my design. I thought it would be interesting to show the division between the main characters in a conceptual way, through shapes and colour. I read the book whilst I was at school so I already had some ideas around the themes.

Working with type is something I wanted to experiment with also. I didn't have much time to complete this brief as the deadline was so soon but I enjoyed having the opportunity to try something new.

Tudor Roughs & Development

I really liked the idea of playing around with contemporary themes as well as historical with the Tudor character. Including a phone seems to be a good way to do this. Although I tend to work with different time periods often, I haven't played around with this in relation to the modern day very much.

Book Roughs

Young Poets Binding Design

Final Cover Design

I had a lot of fun with this idea. I tried to incorporate elements of Stratford in the form of architecture, which I associate with the location and also Shakespeare who is obviously well associated with the topic of poetry and writing in general. The brief also specified a bright and vibrant cover, which is something I don't often do.

Back Cover

Due to time restrictions and in order to save room for the text to be included on the back of the book, I kept the design quite simple. Using the lines from the cover I just carried these onto the back, as well as replicating the texture and lighting. I added some lines (thinking about lined paper) to add a bit more depth and make it less boring. I am pleased with the design, and especially how I was able to learn a bit more about hand drawn type on Photoshop, thank god for the new smoothing tool!

Mock ups

Putting a design onto an actual mock up of a book cover helps me to visual whether or not it works in a real life setting. Overall I am pleased with the way this one turned out!

Young Poets Book Roughs

One day project! Deadline is tomorrow!

As today is very snowy and cold, I've decided to work from home. I also realised that the deadline for the Stratford Literary Festival Book Jacket is tomorrow. I was in two minds as to whether to do it or not this year but I remember spending very little time on it last year and it was a fun project! 

Making myself do this every now and then confirms to me that I am able to produce work very quickly. Having said that, I'm not sure I will actually finish the design before tomorrow, but let's see how it goes..

Roughs - Ideas

I jotted down a very quick idea that I intend to develop further on-screen due to time restrictions. I am enjoying myself so far and am excited to see how today with pan out.