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.