Final Book Cover Design

After I had sorted out the composition of my final book cover design, I drew it out and began adding colour. When I first started I tried Watercolour paint, however this wasn't creating enough definition or contrast, so I went on to using acrylic. This allowed me to paint accurately and get bold, saturated colours that could be edited in Photoshop later if needed. I used my own photos to create the Polaroids, however in some I used my imagination to turn my own countryside images, into seaside, beach scenes.

I wanted the background of the cover to have some sort of coastal link too, so I played around with the idea of using drift wood and a tablecloth/picnic blanket. Normally I would go for a more simple background to create contrast between that and the main subjects, however I liked the effect that this created. It makes the cover look busy and interesting, linking to the chaos that Cherry and her family are feeling in the novel. Having the photos scattered around the page, suggests a sense of investigation, gathering evidence and searching for the little girl that has been lost at sea. 

Once I was happy with the overall painting and composition I scanned the cover into Photoshop, where I could add the fundamental conventions of a book cover; Title, Author, Publisher, Blurb etc.

Because the background was relatively dark the text wasn't very clear, so using the brush tool with a low opacity I highlighted the areas where the text was placed.

Final Drafting

When it came to creating my final drafting ideas I realised I wanted to include all of the previous compositions I had explored previously, so I came up with a Polaroid picture concept. As well as allowing me to include all of my favourite compositions it also links in well with the story; the photos are evidence of the girl's disappearance. Before drawing out my designs I found it useful to create a composition in Photoshop, so I could alter things easily and pick photos for each Polaroid. I made sure to leave space for a blurb and information, and put the majority of the photos on the front cover. 

Once I was happy with my composition I wanted to experiment slightly with different media and the effects they would give me. I tried pen and then pen and watercolour, however I found that this didn't give me enough contrast, so when it came to actually creating my final cover I chose to use Acrylic. This meant that the whole cover and all the photos got the definition they needed to stand out.

Colour Choices

When experimenting with different colour schemes, I wanted to convey the theme of The Giant's Necklace through saturation, tones and hues. Many of the schemes were too bright and colourful for the audience and theme. However, by the end of it I think I found a colour scheme that worked well, with more Chromatic colours and deep shadows that convey the impending sense of doom that is apparent throughout the book.

Scamping and Refined Drafts

Before moving onto designing my final front cover, I started with drafting a few ideas of subject matter and compositions. The photos I had taken previously helped a lot with this process.

Contact Sheet 2

Taking photos allowed me to explore different compositions and ideas for possible illustrations and front covers. Some would work well as smaller illustrations to accompany text and others will work well as full pages and even front covers.

Emulation - Brooks Salzwedel

Brook Salzwedel's work explores nature in dark and dreamlike settings, with the scenes often obscured by fog. Many of his pieces are hidden inside small tin boxes and pipes, bringing together nature and man made elements. When I came across Salzwedel's work I loved the way he created mist and fog, I decided to explore this idea further through the use of layers and ink. Although Salzwedel himself doesn't use layers, I wanted to experiment with different ways of creating the same sort of effect.

The further back the layers got, the less detail I added. Using block colour and dry brush technique to create darker areas of tone.

Case Study - Annie Davidson