Feedback from pitch

Today I pitched my idea to the class and it went very well. I got all positive comments from the class. The comments where from what I can remember where

' I like the idea of the footsteps, the link between both the covers is cool'

'The font I had chosen suits the design very well'

The feedback from George was:

'I like the way you put the brief into 4 main points, its a good way of remembering it importantly'

'I really like the design, if you pull it off it can look extremely good'

'Its good that you spent a lot of time choosing your type face and your matching body text font face'

'I like the image you are using to replicate your image, its really good'

'Im glad your pushing yourself in this project'.

To conclude this, Im really happy with my feedback. I feel I can just get straight into making it now without worrying about elements I've designed. Its going to be hard to make but I'm confident in my ability I can pull it off, this is my biggest challenge yet out of all my designing projects I have ever done. But its going to help me very well as a designer, my illustrator skills by the end of it should be improved very greatly. Im looking forward to making it.

Style I am using

My drawing style is going to be very similar to this image I have found after researching quite a bit to find something that my style is going to be like. Its not going to be like the heavy detailed hand draw style most wind in the willows book covers are like its going to be like in-inbetween hand drawn and blocky style. So it will still be detailed from the different lighting, toning, shadows on the cover. This includes different layers of trees, for example the ones at the front will be lighter than ones behind it. The tree will have toning on it like the ones in this image, its not too detailed I like the balance it brings. 

This avoids the cliche and also challenges me for my illustrator drawing skills which I like the thought of. I have decided I will do all my drawings in illustrator. Then bring the characters into to photoshop to add potential textures then export them as a jpeg so they become a bitmap image then bring them back into indesign aswell as the illustrator draw book cover. The snow on the ground will be texture to look like real snow in the same style so it wont be too detailed, I have had a thought about creating snow fall but I'm not sure. This idea I am going to leave at the end to see if it looks better with snow falling in it or not.

Trees

My tree style is going to be very similar to this one, its not too thick and not too thin. Again meeting my satisfaction of right balance, the branches are going to be curvy, pointy but not too emphasised so they look razor sharp just enough to look like a real tree like this one. Not lots and lots of branches coming off each other too.

The trees in the background are going to be scaled down of the ones at the front so it doesn't come off my balance, but this image I can use as a guide to create my trees, maybe live tracing it could be better but I am going to try draw all my trees from scratch.

Characters

*Draw up the characters in illustrator put images here*

Colour pallet

My colour theme has to be dark, cold and spooky. A spooky forest is not going to be bright and colourful so my colours will be dark such as navy blues, blacks, dark browns. It is winter during the scene so there will be which means white must be involved. The characters clothes will be bright which will make them the focal point with the emphasis of contrast in colours.

Here are some pallets illustrating the colours I will be using.

The darkness in-between the trees will have a really dark blue colour.

The trees are going to be a very dark brown, close to black but to brown enough to identify it is brown. I had big thought wether to have pure black silhouette trees but I think that just make the book look to much as if it was a horror book when its not.

Snow on the ground and on some of the branches has to be white. The text is going to be white swell which will contrast well on the dark background.

The evil eyes with in the trees surrounding mole are going to be bright yellow, I didnt pick red because I think that again is over the top. Red is a powerful colour; yellow makes it less like it is a horror book and still conveys that scary atmosphere. It will stand out heavily on the dark trees.

Moles clothes; hes going to have a green body warmer with a red jumper on underneath and either orange or blue jeans. I don't want the colours too vibrant as I want to keep it quite dark but still bright.

Rattys clothes on the back cover; hes going to have a big brown crosshatched coat with a brown hunters hat on. He's going to have black tight leggings on and green boots.

Typeface

For my heading I want it to fit the theme of spookyness, it has to be readable and striking as the brief says. Here are some type faces I have found up which I will chose from for the heading.

I think this one is too over the top for spooky, it will make the book look like a horror genre book when its not.

This one I like because of the emphasised parts of the letters, I would remove the curly pattern on each side though if i used this one.

This one I like a lot, the curly parts look like floral which suits my forest background design, the serif of it symbolises that the book is an old story and it looks quite spooky at the same time.

I really like this font cause of how edgy it looks, it goes well with the spooky forest and looks old which again shows the story is old.

This font has good potential but I'm not keen at all on the slight italic style to it.

This font is nice and curvy but I think it it is a bit too square.

I like this font, it is thorny looking which suits the forest theme of the book cover, the serif on this font is nicely emphasized into a curvy flick which looks like branches of a tree.

This font is very wiggly and spooky, I think its too over the top for me on the emphasis.

The font I have decided to use for the heading is the Narnia font. I shortlisted my decision to 4 fonts then type them all out on illustrator to have a proper in depth review and I chose Narnia because I think it fits my theme perfectly, it looks spooky, its not too over the top. The serif is nicely emphasised not too much and not too little.

I like how it is all in caps too, which relates to the brief of adding a more striking element to the book cover.

Now for my body text such as the blurb, ' Kenneth Grahame' and 'Introduced by Brian Jacques'.

From looking at existing Wind and the Willows book covers, the other text on the book is normally similar to the main heading but a little more formal. Here are a list of potential fonts what I will chose from.

This type face I think relates to the Narnia font, it has that nice emphasis on the serif as well. I like the different in widths on the x and y bases. The only problem is that the text is all in caps so I don't think it could work as body text.

This type is nice, it is easily readable, the serif again matches the Narnia font. The different in widths on the letters again makes me like this font.

This font I really like, the serif is really pointy what suits the theme really well. It is readable, goes well with the pointy Narnia font. Definite favourite.

I really like this font cause of the style, it looks old and neat at the same time. I think the serifs are better on the other fonts though.

This type is nice, but the serif is too square and thick. I prefer the pointy serif to fit more with the theme.

This type really fits the bill too, the serif is smoothy emphasised to my satisfaction, its pointy and spooky looking, theres no different in widths on the letters which downfalls compared to the parmapetit font.

This font matches everything I want as well, its going to be hard to chose between this one, parmapetit and chartrand.


I have shortlisted the fonts down to these three, this is what they look like with some text to have a more in depth look.

Parmapetit

Chartrand

Charpentier

Looking at these, I think Parmapetit is the font I am going to use. I really like the emphasis on curves and serif which made me make the decision on this font, it relates well to the Narnia font. It goes well with the spooky theme and relation to an old book.

Proposal

Proposal

I have decided I want my final choice to be of the scene of the wild wood with rat looking for the scared and lost mole. The scene is scary with evil eyes coming out of the trees glaring at mole in the cold snowy conditions.

The brief also states that the design must be 

• 'a striking cover design'
•  'imaginative concept'
• 'a strong use of typography'
• 'eye catching' 

I have really focused on these four points as i think they are the most important factors of the brief to answer. As wind in the willows has so many book covers already and the majority are the same sort o thing I want to take my design away from the cliche. This is why I have chosen this creepy scene from the book, no one from what i have researched has made a cover on this scene, it brings out an alternative message of the book whereas the others bring out the happy peaceful aspect mine is bringing out a scary mysterious message. My cover will still convey the message of friendship because i'm having rat searching for mole on the cover what symbolises friendship.

This design I think can answer those 4 points because of the experimentation I can have with colours, the cold dark colours will make it striking, the imaginative concept is that my design is from a scene no one has done before and is giving an alternative message. The typography will be strong in a way that it is going to be dynamic, not a simple serif or sans serif font. It will go with the spooky theme. Eye catching, I think the evil eyes glaring in the background will make audience interested, the book will look adventurous which is another main factor of the book.

Research

To start off this project I will conduct research into what the story is about, what the characters personalities are like, messages children can take from the book, and any other main factors the story gives by reading the book and watching the film. I will also research into existing published already made book covers for wind in the willows as this is the book i have decided to design my book cover for.

Short summary of the story 

A mole who is alien to the outside world goes off wandering one day and meets a rat by a river, the rat invites the mole into his boat which the mole has never seen before and experiences being on a boat, they go on boat trips together and become friends.  They both come across a toad at the toad hall, they start talking and toad tells them his passion for his caravan. Toad persuades the mole and rat to join him on the caravan trip. During the trip a motor car causes the caravan to crash into a ditch this leads onto toad ending his desire for caravans to be replaced for motor cars, he then buys himself a motor car.

Mole wants to meet badger because he is a respected character but rat tells mole badger doesn't like visitors and tells mole to be patient and wait for badger to visit him instead. Mole ignores rats words and  goes exploring for him in the wild wood, he gets lost and see's scary faces in the woods so he panic an hides in the root of a tree. Rat notices mole has gone missing goes to look for him by following his tracks whilst equipped with a pistol and stick, which he then finds him in the end. They both attempt to find their way home and luckily find badgers doorstep, badger comes and greets them both into his home and treats them to hot food and dry clothes. Rat and Mole tell Badger that toad is a crazy driver and has crashed 6 cars and been in hospital 3 times and spent fortunes on fines. They come up with a plan for when spring comes to protect toad from hurting himself in the future.

Spring comes, Badger goes to visit Rat and Mole to sort out what they are going to do about Toad's madness, they all visit him and badger attempts to talk him out of his behaviour. The 3 of them put Toad under house arrest; guarding the premises until toad changes his mind. Toad acts as if he is ill and tricks Rat, he escapes and steals a car driving like a madman again and finally gets caught by the police, he is then sent to prison for 20 years. Badger and Mole are angry at Rat for being fooled but are content that they don't need to waste any more of their summer guarding Toad. But they live in toads hall in the mean time hoping toad might return. Toad in prison gains sympathy off the jailers daughter who helps Toad escape disguised as a washerwoman. Toad is now without money and only has clothes as his possession, he is being pursued by the police and is disguised as a washerwoman still. Toad comes across a barge, the barge owner offers toad a lift in exchange for toads services as a washerwoman. Toad botches the was and gets into a fight with the barge woman who throws toad into the canal after toad steals the horse which then sells onto a gypsy. Toad flags down a passing car which happens to be the exact same car he stole earlier. The car owner doesn't recognise toad permits toads to drive the car, once toad is in the car he is repossessed by his former behaviour of driving like a nutter which catches the identity of him to the cars owner who try to seize him. Later on this causes an accident which toads flees from once again whilst being pursued by the police he accidentally runs into a river which carries him luckily to the house of Rat. Rat informs toad that toad hall has been taken over by weasels, stoats and ferrets from the wild wood which drove out badger and mole who were staying there. Toad is upset by the news but realises what good friends he has and how badly he has behaved. Badger comes in and announces that he knows a secret tunnel into toad hall through which the enemies can be attacked.

Rat, Mole and Toad enter though the tunnel and attack the weasels who are holding a party, whilst honouring their leader. They manages to drive the intruders away and Toad holds a banquet to mark his return, he behaves quietly and humbly. He makes up for his wrong doings by compensating those who he had wronged and the friends live out their live happily ever after.

Character summary

Ratty: Rat is a relaxed and friendly character. He loves the river and is stubborn when it comes to doing something else other than his riverside style.

Mole: Mole is a home loving character and is new to the outside world, the adventure adapts him as a person to be more challenging.

Toad: Toad is rich and spoiled. A mad driver and easily prone to obsessions which he then drops when he is bored of them. He is a criminal as he steals a car and drives dangerously causing accidents but he is the main message of the book, he is the heart of the story as the adventure of the animas is all because of toad.

Badger: Badger is the old wise character. He is influential for the friends and comes up with the smart plan of getting toads hall back. He is brave and a skilled fighter.

Strong points from the book

• The power of true friendship
• Kindess and loyalty
• Leisure, in the book the characters are doing lots of leisure on the adventure for example the boat ride, the hunt for badger, toad on the run from the police, fighting etc.
• One big adventure

Scenes from the book for potential ideas

From researching the story of this book i think it is a very hard challenge of designing a book cover for it, i have looked at existing book covers and there is so many of them which are all similar. The majority of them focus on the theme of friendship with a different scene setting in the background, majority are either in the woods or by the river. I want my design to avoid being another cliche, I want to do something different. I am thinking of basing my design around the dark side of the book, the scene where rat and mole are in the scary woods with all the evil eyes glaring at them in the background.  This idea is the one thats in the back of mind of doing. I also want my design to be a scene from the book as it creates more focus for me to come up with a more variety of ideas surrounding one setting which I think will make my design better. This is a list of scenes I think were intresting and could become potential bases for designs:

• The tunnels scene where all 4 characters are going through the tunnel to reach toad hall of the weasels. I was thinking maybe the front cover have the four characters then on the back page have toad hall and the weasels with the tunnel connecting both them going over the spine of the book
• The wild wood scene where mole is lost and scared with the evil eyes glaring at him from the bushes and rat is looking for him. The back page could have the scene stretched out with badger on the back page.
• Boat scene where rat and mole are on the boat along the river, even though this has been done many times it it is quite iconic in the book as it is the first step of the journey in the book.
• In badgers house where rat and mole are in his lounge meeting him for the first time.
• Cold snowy wild wood with rat and mole desperately looking for shelter.
• Toad hall scene where all four characters are together
• Toad in the dungeon on his own with light shining through the window on him 

Existing book covers

I really like this book cover, mainly because of the colours and setting of the design. The night time colours make this cover attractive, I like the stars at the top of the book and how the sky blends in with the green nature of the plants and trees. The white text over it works well as it goes well with the white stars in the background, the font is nice as well, with the variation of sizes with 'WIND' and 'WILLOWS' much larger and capitalised. I like the style of 'the' and 'in the' being smaller and laid out differently, it creates balance and looks unique. This book cover would answer the brief I have to design for in that it stands out. It is very detailed and looks welcoming. The characters on the front have been emphasised as the focal point by being in brighter coloured clothes and having a glowing shine behind them which I think is really effective. The back cover I like how the moon is the text box for the  blurb it contrasts well to the maroon coloured font on top of it. I also like how the front cover carrys onto the back cover, I want to replicate that style in my own design.

This book cover I don't really like. Mainly because of the artist style I think. It looks like it has been painted. I really dislike the type face the designer has used, it looks so simple in having just a serif font in the same size squished in between those two bushes, the cover doesn't stand out in my opinion, the vibrant colours are the only reason this cover would ever catch a persons eye in a book shop. I also think the characters in the boat is too big, if it was smaller I reckon the design would benefit more. The design just looks squashed. The back page I like because its relaxing and calm, it conveys the main message of the book of friendship whats important. I think looking at this book you would think it is for a very young child, whereas in the one book cover above it the target audience is probably a bit more older for a child just from how detailed and the style of artwork it is in. But again in this book cover the design flows from the front to back which i admire.

This book cover is nice and i like it. The illustrations are nicely made and bring out the characters personalities by how they are dressed. I like the detailed old styled theme to it,  it looks natural and a peaceful book. It conveys the meaning of the book of true friendship by having all the characters on the cover and in the location of the river which is a main aspect of the book. The text in the middle and centred creates a nice balance, and the font is in a unique natural looking serif font which is nice.

I tried searching book covers for this book what avoid the same old cliche, I found this one which is based on a scene when rat and mole find badgers house in the wild wood. Its a pretty basic book cover, I like the colours it uses, the brown symbolising nature, and matching the browns in the illustration below. I think its quite boring though, it wouldn't catch my eye in a book shop the colours are dull for eye grabbing. The type stands out well on the brown background to identify what the book is easily which is the plus for this book cover.

Illustrations similar to my proposed design

I found this image on the internet, it isn't a book cover but it is a sort of poster conveying the wild wood, it is very similar to what i want my front cover to look like. Mole running scared in the forest with evil eyes in the trees. Theres no snow in this image but there is in the actual story which is a bit weird.

This is a screen shot of the scene from one of the movies, the spikey branches are what I want to use in my design, giving it that creepy mysterious mood.

Heres another screenshot this time of the evil eyes in the darkness. This influences my choice of style colours and illustrations of how i am going to approach mine, I'm not going to show any slight silhouette of animals, just the yellow eyes.

Start of new Project AF101 Penguin book cover design

Start of the next project, we have been asked to design a book cover for the penguin competition. We have an option to design for either the adult book or children's book which are The Big Sleep or Wind In The Willows.

What I must produce

• PDF of book cover
• A2 Poster advertising re-lauch of the book
• Sketchbook & blog of evidence of research and designs
• Written statement of 500-100 words describing how the design i have created fits the cmpeition brief and in particular what you were trying to communicate through your image, typography and layout etc.
• Produce branding guideline for book cover made in InDesign

Deadlines

• 3rd December is pitch
• 7th January is crit
• 11th Jan is final submission 

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.

Evaluation

This is my finished design of my poster. After making the adjustments which got suggested after crit I feel this has improved my poster and I am happy with the final outcome.

Adding a gradient to the cream sun burst has definitely made the poster looked better, it gave a better contrast to the woman's skin colour so i didn't have to tone the skin colour down. I decided to leave the lines in because i personally like them, it gives more emphasis on leading the eye to the focal point and without them it just looks too bare in that space. I added a radial gradient to the star in the middle just to make it look more like the star is on her clothes, and so it mirrors the sun burst gradient in the background. The strokes have been taken out; I feel the poster conveys the propaganda style without them much better and reflects the style in which I have chosen stronger as soviet propaganda didn't use strokes a lot it was purely construcivsm when the poster is using strong edged blocky designs like I have done.

This was my poster before crit:

Comparing the two you can easily tell my final outcome is much better after the improvements, losing the strokes, adding gradient just makes it more pleasing to the eye.

My poster answers the brief which was 'design a poster in the style of propaganda from 1900-1950's promoting an aspect of social media'. My poster is in a soviet style applied to the woman of britain poster of 1941, the aspect I chose was following of twitter. I feel my poster conveys this very well. The twitter birds flocking around the woman are the focal point which is emphasised by the contrast of the light blue on the dark red and cream sunburst which directs your eye to the woman and twitter birds. The twitter birds surround the woman which gives that aspect of following. My text of 'come follow me on twitter' is strong, the use of 'come' reflects the original poster of 'come into the factories' so it is important it is there. The text shows how obvious my aspect is as well by using the word follow too. So  overall I feel this meets the brief well.

I think I have done the soviet style effectively, If you looked at that you could immediately tell its from the soviet era by the strong colours, the serious facial expression the woman is giving, the eyes looking more to the right giving that posing effect which was used in soviet propaganda a lot and the clothes the woman is wearing.

A summary of the project as a whole has really helped me as a designer and I have enjoyed the whole project. I had never used illustrator before this project but now I think it is a great program to use for designing but I still prefer photoshop. Turning artwork what was made in the early 1900's and using that art style in a modern design has helped me in my designing career, I have learned different techniques and styles from researching various posters and artists which could give me ideas in the future of designing. I enjoyed my process of creating my design as using the sketchbook for ideas which I have never done before really did help in choosing my final idea, the wide spread of differentials of ideas I gradually grew on to give me my final design. The feedback from crit really helped me because without it I probably wouldn't of thought of the ideas they came up with to help improve my design.

Overall I am very happy with my final outcome and the process it took to get to it, I have learned various illustrator skills, my researching is growing more in depth which is helping me more as a designer. I enjoyed this project and I am looking forward to next one.

Things I would do next time differently 

My sketch book I feel could of had more in it, I have learned that the more design process with pencil and paper before starting to create it on the design software makes life easier when designing, it creates less problems because experimenting on the design software takes much more time than drawing it out before hand. Next time I will experiment more in the sketchbook which will create less questionable elements to my designs in the future.

Progession of my poster

To start off with I imported the original poster I wanted to use as a base for mine and outlined the woman into the new clothes I was going to put on her. 

I then used the pen tool to construct lines of the woman over the outline i created then added colour in. I done the face by creating a brush stroke.

After I had done the woman, I built the background up by using the pen tool to create the sunburst and podium she is standing on. The gradient was done by making a radial gradient then using a clipping mask onto a seperate layer.

I then traced the twitter bird and duplicated them and placed them around the womans pose putting them behind and infront of her to make it look more 3D and more like the birds are following each other which enforcens my aproach of promoting that chosen aspect.

I then added the red lines using the pen tool and text to it.

This is the latest my poster looks like,  I am still working on the extra bits that need refining and added content which is making a gradient on the cream sunburst, toning the womans skin colour down and getting rid of the strokes.

Feedback from crit

After criting this, the feedback I received was very uncertain to be honest. The class wasnt sure about the red lines going up to the t and hashtag. People suggested maybe take them out, maybe make the lines thicker so I think i will just experiment with them till i am most satisfied. I like them as they are to be honest so we shall see on that one.

Another point was the strokes on the sun burst and her hands, someone said to get rid of them, i wasnt keen on this idea cause i like the strokes, it gives it a more strong and bold look but for sure i will take them out and see what they look like. The skin colour of her face and hands needs to be paler one of my class mates suggested and I agree on that.

The angles of the boxes the t and hashtag need to be altered to make it a more symmetrical angle, so i am thinking of making the lines at 180 degree angle on top and the sides more at a tilt so they are more in proportion.

The colours are all fine, the font and font colour and composition are all fine and people liked that.

Someone suggested maybe adding texture on the cream, so I might experiment with this to see if it looks better but im not too keen as I don't want to come off the style i'm mirroring. Someone said to add a gradient like the one on the red sunburst which I want to do, I think the poster will look much better with this added gradient.

The twitter birds; a class mate said by putting some behind her instead of all in front of her will make it look more like they are flocking around her not just on her which i thought was a great idea and i will do this.

More on the skin, a class mate suggested making the woman's skin colour more paler so it doesn't clash direct with the cream background as they are the same colour.

A lot of the class agreed to get rid of the strokes on the hands, I also agree. Im also going to get rid of the strokes on my poster as a whole, I feel having strokes on some parts but not all will look funny and unbalanced. I have already shown the class my poster in a version with strokes and without (day after crit), and the majority said it looked better without strokes.

This was all the feedback I got, so as a whole theres no major changes I need to do really. I

Process of my poster

Yesterday and today I have been working on creating my poster in illustrator, I have managed to get the hang of using it as it is the first time I have ever used it before.

The first screenshot of my process looks like this:

This very much looks like my sketch of my design, the differences are the boxes of what the t and hashtag are in. I feel having them at this angel creates more balance to the poster and fits in better with the line effects.

Extra research for final idea

After my pitch and a discussion with Kate about my mock up sketches. I looked at more soviet posters to focus on certain aspects which I could apply to my design to make it better and make sure it references soviet style as much as possible. In my mock up, me and Kate decided it would be better if the woman was in work clothes; in soviet propaganda iconic figures in the posters would be dressed in work uniform a lot of the time so dressing the woman in my poster in this would replicate that, also adding some tools in her pocket will show more reference to it. We also spoke about the curvy line in my mock up what the woman is standing from, in soviet propaganda the poster used lots of straight lines and a lot of parallel lines. So changing my curvy line to a straight hexagon like line across will make it more soviet style like. Im also going to change the boxes the t and hashtag are in the pointy straight boxes and try have a parallel line pattern next to it.

This poster by Alexander Rodchenko who was a famous soviet poster designer uses the straight parallel lines technique strongly.

Everything for the Victory - Women of USSR for the Front (ca. 1942)

This poster was the 'Everything for the victory, 1942' has a major influence on the woman I am designing in my final design. Her work clothes are the element I want to take and use in my design, instead of having the women in the british clothing have her in the soviet work clothes with some tools in her pocket to symbolise soviet style. It generally makes the poster stronger.

This poster is another of Alexaner Rodchenkos (1923) and again illustrates the strong blocky style. Straight lines, he uses some curves though in this poster but the poster is over powered by the straight lines.

These are my first initial mock up sketches, I will draw up more sketches with the changes I am going to make to see if I think its better, Im 90% sure it will work better with these changes in play.