I've submitted! I'm really glad this brief is done and out of the way now. I really enjoyed working on it but it's good to be able to finish everything off and submit the cover so I can get working on the next brief.
Showing posts with label To Kill A Mockingbird. Show all posts
Showing posts with label To Kill A Mockingbird. Show all posts
Wednesday, 8 February 2017
To Kill A Mockingbird - Final Cover
I'm really happy with how my book cover has turned out. After seeing the cover on it's own I was bit skeptical as to wether the design would work as a whole but now i've completed the whole thing I think the design really works and effectively communicates the themes and ideas that I was wanting to communicate. I think the colour palette works well and that the contrast between the illustrations and the cover text works inline with the different themes that run throughout the novel.
I need to run through everything and make sure it's all set to be submitted but then I think I'm ready to submit. I've got to admit, actually submitting it seems terrifying. I think because I'm sending my work to someone outside of uni, there's a bit more pressure than just submitting for a standard module hand-in. I think that's the reason I've been putting responsive off for a while as well, sending your work off to actual professional people/companies is slightly terrifying.
Tuesday, 7 February 2017
To Kill A Mockingbird - Colour Choice and Cover Mockup
This is my mock-up of the front of my book cover. I've chosen to have the floral illustrations in the background a mixture of light pastel tones because these are the colours that camellias usually are and also because the lighter, pastel imagery links up with the themes of innocence and childhood. I kept the monotype text black as it's a stark contrast to the lighter tones of the illustration. Likewise in the book there are darker themes of racism and prejudice that run alongside lighter themes of childhood and innocence. I kept the background a neutral image because I didn't want to distract from the main image and text.
I'm pretty happy with how things are going for this brief. I like the composition of the text and the imagery and think these elements compliment each other. The only thing I'm worried about is it looking a bit plain or empty? I don't know, I just feel like as a stand alone image it's not quite there yet. I think mocking the whole book cover up and adding the spine, back cover and all of the additional elements will make the image feel more complete.
Sunday, 5 February 2017
To Kill A Mockingbird - Lino and Mono Printing
After I'd chosen which design I wanted to push forward, I cut my lino and headed down to the print room. Lino printing is something I think I've developed through previous modules and believe that combing lino and mono printing would create an interesting outcome that reflected both the innocence and the darker side to Harper Lee's novel. Whilst I was mono printing my type, one of the print room technicians came over to me and suggested that if I wanted a creepy, childlike effect on the type that I try writing with my left hand. Mono printing is hard enough considering you have to write everything backwards so doing this with my left hand was even harder. It did produce some really childlike type but was abit too warped and distorted for what I was aiming to do. I've chosen one of the cleaner lino prints and some clearer type to take forward and develop into my book cover.
Friday, 27 January 2017
To Kill A Mockingbird - Initial Sketches
I've been sketching a few different versions of the flowers out and am thinking that I'd refer to keep the design more line based. I think this would work quite well in a pastel colour, with monotype text over the top. I think the contrast between the roughness of the monotype and the smooth, coloured flowers will be quite nice and would also show the theme of innocence through the illustrations but also bring light to the more serious undertone of the book using the rough, textured monotype.
This was just a quick mock-up of who the cover could potentially look, with the pastel/faded design underneath and quite bold text laid over the top. The only problem I can see with this is maybe because the illustration is quite line based, the text could get lost in it? I could try make the flowers more shape based or possibly just fill them in with a colour and add the detail in over the top. I'm not 100% sure yet, I think I still need to play around with the design and layout of it all and also could do with getting the monotype done and out of the way in order to start scanning things in and mocking them up on photoshop. It might be an idea to make a few book jackets and placing my designs on them just to see how everything could work as a whole.
To Kill A Mockingbird - Why Camellias?
I've been doing a bit of further research into the different plant symbolism within To Kill A Mockingbird and feel that Camellias would be the best flower to use for my book cover design due to their different symbolism and meaning in the book.
Firstly, Camellia's are the state flower of Alabama, the state in which To Kill A Mockingbird is set.
Looking into symbolism within the book, Mrs Dubose's camellias represent the racism and prejudice found in Macomb County. You can then look at the fact that Camellias are difficult to get rid of, having to be pulled up by their roots to stop the plant from growing/flowering. This relates to the message in the book that to effectively eradicate racism and prejudice, one must be level headed with a caring heart. This also links to Jem's rash behaviour in cutting off the heads of Mrs Dubose's Camellias and how violence can not simply erase prejudice and racism.
We can also look at the symbolism of the Camellia when Mrs Dubose leaves Jem a single Camellia in perfect condition. This reminds us that we must approach difficult issues with compassions and understanding.
To me, the symbolism of the Camellia is linked to a lot of important themes and ideas that run throughout the book and I think because of this it would be a really great starting point for my book cover designs. It strays away from the usual symbol of the mockingbird whilst still having a connection to the key ideas in the book.
Firstly, Camellia's are the state flower of Alabama, the state in which To Kill A Mockingbird is set.
Looking into symbolism within the book, Mrs Dubose's camellias represent the racism and prejudice found in Macomb County. You can then look at the fact that Camellias are difficult to get rid of, having to be pulled up by their roots to stop the plant from growing/flowering. This relates to the message in the book that to effectively eradicate racism and prejudice, one must be level headed with a caring heart. This also links to Jem's rash behaviour in cutting off the heads of Mrs Dubose's Camellias and how violence can not simply erase prejudice and racism.
We can also look at the symbolism of the Camellia when Mrs Dubose leaves Jem a single Camellia in perfect condition. This reminds us that we must approach difficult issues with compassions and understanding.
To me, the symbolism of the Camellia is linked to a lot of important themes and ideas that run throughout the book and I think because of this it would be a really great starting point for my book cover designs. It strays away from the usual symbol of the mockingbird whilst still having a connection to the key ideas in the book.
To Kill A Mockingbird - Initial Roughs
I've spent some time roughing a few ideas up, mainly based around the symbol of the mockingbird and the different flower symbolisms i found in the book.
Right now I feel like the flower roughs would be the strongest ideas to follow through and start to develop. The symbol of the Mockingbird is common throughout a lot of the existing covers through the book and even though this is an original motif, I think it's one that the judges are going to be expecting to see, and one that is going to be hard to work with in order to come up with an innovative design. I feel like the symbolism of the flowers offer a different insight into the themes that run throughout the novel and still manage to link back to the book strongly.
I think my next step is to develop some of these ideas and see how they come along. I could also do with getting a bit of feedback from pals/tutors and make sure that I'm not going completely in the wrong direction.
Thursday, 19 January 2017
To Kill A Mockingbird - Selected Symbols and Motifs
The Mockingbird:
- Symbolises innocence, childhood, imprisonment, justice, prejudice
- Representative of characters Tom Robinson, Boo Radley and Scout
Flower Symbolism
- Camellias represent prejudice that cannot be brushed off easily, they have to be tugged up by their roots
- Azaleas are down by Miss Maudie who always has a sunny character despite the bitterness and prejudice that surrounds her. Azaleas are known for growing in adverse conditions
- Geraniums - only flowers frown by Mayella Ewell and mainly symbolise her unfulfilled love which she tries to force upon Tom Robinson
Tim Johnson
- Represents the rampant racialism in the south
- Atticus shooting Tim Johnson sets himself up to be the 'hero' who will attempt to bring down racism
- The mob, injustice, anything Atticus has to fight
- Brown and white dog, further indicator to racial injustice
- Symbolises innocence, childhood, imprisonment, justice, prejudice
- Representative of characters Tom Robinson, Boo Radley and Scout
Flower Symbolism
- Camellias represent prejudice that cannot be brushed off easily, they have to be tugged up by their roots
- Azaleas are down by Miss Maudie who always has a sunny character despite the bitterness and prejudice that surrounds her. Azaleas are known for growing in adverse conditions
- Geraniums - only flowers frown by Mayella Ewell and mainly symbolise her unfulfilled love which she tries to force upon Tom Robinson
Tim Johnson
- Represents the rampant racialism in the south
- Atticus shooting Tim Johnson sets himself up to be the 'hero' who will attempt to bring down racism
- The mob, injustice, anything Atticus has to fight
- Brown and white dog, further indicator to racial injustice
To Kill a Mockingbird - Selected Passages and Quotes
I thought it might be an idea to stick some quotes here that have struck a chord with me while i've been researching the book. I think some of the imagery that these quotes/passages conjure up could be a good starting point for my roughs and sketches.
“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view … until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”
“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.”
“Best way to clear the air is to have it all out in the open.”
“The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.”
“People generally see what they look for and hear what they listen for.”
“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing except make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corn cribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
“Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ’em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view … until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”
“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.”
“Best way to clear the air is to have it all out in the open.”
“The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.”
“People generally see what they look for and hear what they listen for.”
“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing except make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corn cribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
“Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ’em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
To Kill A Mockingbird - Existing Covers
- Simple silhouette illustrations
- Quite bold, large type
- Balanced type and illustration, neither overpowers the other
- Draws attention to the theme of innocence and childhood that runs throughout the book
- Two colour, simple and effective
- Shaped based illustration
- Three colours including stock
- Draws attention to the symbolism of the Mockingbird
- Text clear and easy to read
- Line based illustration
- Emphasis on text
The childlike illustration links to the themes of childhood and innocence
- The subject matter of the illustration draws attention to the symbolism of the mockingbird
- Two colour and stock
- Black silhouette illustrations
- Title of the novel is combined into the illustration
- Includes the symbolism of childhood and the mockingbird
- 3 colours and stock
A lot of the covers I've been looking at include that symbol of the mockingbird, perhaps because this symbolism is integral to the story. I think it's definitely something that I'd like to try and incorporate into my own designs, along with other possibles imagery/symbolism from the novel.
Penguin Book Awards - To Kill A Mockingbird
I've decided to make a start on the Penguin Book Awards brief, with my chosen book being To Kill A Mockingbird. I've never actually read the book before but I've done a bit of research on all three and feel that this is the book that i'm most confident working on.
The brief asks for us to design a new and classic cover for the book, coming at it from a fresh perspective to create a cover that should feel timeless and confident and appeal to a whole new generation of readers.
The cover must be 198mm high by 129mm wide with a spine of 20 mm and must incorporate the arrow branding, barcode and additional text.
The deadline is the 7th March at 12 noon and the final cover must be submitted as:
.PDF
.300 dpi
.CMYK
.5mm Bleed
.Trim and crop marks
. Colour managed
. Max size 5mb
I am hoping to get this brief done by the end of February and be working on it at a weekly basis. This should give me plenty of time for research, roughs and development as well as producing a final copy.
The brief asks for us to design a new and classic cover for the book, coming at it from a fresh perspective to create a cover that should feel timeless and confident and appeal to a whole new generation of readers.
The cover must be 198mm high by 129mm wide with a spine of 20 mm and must incorporate the arrow branding, barcode and additional text.
The deadline is the 7th March at 12 noon and the final cover must be submitted as:
.300 dpi
.CMYK
.5mm Bleed
.Trim and crop marks
. Colour managed
. Max size 5mb
I am hoping to get this brief done by the end of February and be working on it at a weekly basis. This should give me plenty of time for research, roughs and development as well as producing a final copy.
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