The typeface used for this last comp is an embellished Jeeves.
Showing posts with label fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fiction. Show all posts
Monday, February 28, 2011
Texas memoir
Every project has its challenges. This cover is for a fictionalized memoir that begins during the Dust Bowl and zigzags through time and the lives of three generations of rough-and-tumble Texan men. My predicament is that the author wants to make sure this novel / memoir appeals to women. She's provided me with several wonderful photos and personal belongings of the main character (her father)—which frees me to focus on type and color to conjure some 'feminine appeal' for this very manly tale...
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Love is sucha a game...
And now for something a little lighter in tone—a novel about the roller coaster ride that modern dating has become. The lipstick Xs and kisses are arranged in a tic-tac-toe game which either side can still win. Or lose.
The typeface is the acrobatic script Penabico which has an amazing number of swashes...
The typeface is the acrobatic script Penabico which has an amazing number of swashes...
Monday, November 22, 2010
Series cover
One of my favorite authors is back with another chilling murder mystery. In the premier novel (see it here), the first victim is found with a square hole cut from her abdomen. In this story, the first victim is found clutching a pin. I've taken elements from the first novel—the typography, blood, geometry, and deathly pallor—and transmuted it for the new scenario.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Book trailer project complete!
I fell in love with After Effects a few years ago and taught myself enough to create a couple of decent book trailers. You can see them here and here. But alas, they were very time consuming to produce and our company wisely chose to stop offering book trailers as a marketing service.
But we made an exception this past month for one author who is releasing a sequel to the first novel she published with us. So between covers and other things print, I have been working on this trailer for the last few weeks. I think it turned out pretty well.
I love YouTube's new HD capability. Nothing's worse than agonizing over visual subtleties only to have low resolution video compression obliterate them all.
But we made an exception this past month for one author who is releasing a sequel to the first novel she published with us. So between covers and other things print, I have been working on this trailer for the last few weeks. I think it turned out pretty well.
I love YouTube's new HD capability. Nothing's worse than agonizing over visual subtleties only to have low resolution video compression obliterate them all.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Why do some images show up again and again?
We are awash in images. Think of all the paintings, photos, videos, and screen captures that are made every day. And yet... book jackets can still end up using the same image. Maybe this fact gives credence to the the idea that some images are just better than others——because they continue to resonate with people over time. (Or maybe we designers are just a bunch of lazy copycats!)
So with that in mind, take a look at this great collection of covers:
Even with the exact same image, it's interesting to see how much typography, cropping, and decorative elements can alter the focus of an image.
So with that in mind, take a look at this great collection of covers:
Even with the exact same image, it's interesting to see how much typography, cropping, and decorative elements can alter the focus of an image.
More copycat covers here:
Friday, February 19, 2010
Civil War novel jacket and the power of symbols
This week was all about jacket build outs. Here is the final jacket design for the Civil War novel shown here and here.
For this design, I recommended using an uncoated paper and doing a sculpture emboss along with ink over a gold foil to really make the locket pop. Deckled-edged paper for the book's interior pages would have been nice too, but the author wasn't too keen on it.
A couple of interesting things came up during this project. One is that the author is a history buff and therefore a stickler about authenticity. For instance, I chose the Confederate and the US flag solely on how their draping worked with my design. The author liked them but pointed out that there were too new looking and that the stars and stripes were machine double stitched with blue and red thread—neither of which was appropriate for the late 1800s. So I did some Photoshop work to age the flags, to delete the second row of stitching, and to make all the thread white. The original portraits of the sisters inside the locket were also rejected for a similar reason—their hairstyles were too 1900s. Luckily the author was able to provide me with new era-appropriate images.
The second issue was more subtle. Somehow, as a mixed-race Midwesterner who went to middle school in Illinois and Indiana, I just wasn't taught that much about the Civil War. Of course I was taught about slavery and the war and Lincoln, but the Confederacy was not really dwelt upon. The South lost... slavery was abolished... Lincoln became a hero... and we all lived happily ever after, no? So when I started on this cover I knew that the main character was a Southerner and so I went hunting for Confederate imagery. Flags are usually very bold and colorful and the Union Jack looked nice, so I included one prominently on every comp. My design manager (who grew up in Corpus Christi) suggested that I show at least one cover without a flag—which I thought was a little odd—but I complied. The author liked many of the ideas I presented, but he was adamant about not having just the Confederate flag on the cover. This is why the final design includes both it and the Union flag (a 'fair and balanced' cover, if you will). It's a cultural thing I was just not aware of. Obviously, the Confederate flag is still a very salient and loaded symbol which must be used with caution. (You can read the Wikipedia entry here.) Lesson learned.
For this design, I recommended using an uncoated paper and doing a sculpture emboss along with ink over a gold foil to really make the locket pop. Deckled-edged paper for the book's interior pages would have been nice too, but the author wasn't too keen on it.
A couple of interesting things came up during this project. One is that the author is a history buff and therefore a stickler about authenticity. For instance, I chose the Confederate and the US flag solely on how their draping worked with my design. The author liked them but pointed out that there were too new looking and that the stars and stripes were machine double stitched with blue and red thread—neither of which was appropriate for the late 1800s. So I did some Photoshop work to age the flags, to delete the second row of stitching, and to make all the thread white. The original portraits of the sisters inside the locket were also rejected for a similar reason—their hairstyles were too 1900s. Luckily the author was able to provide me with new era-appropriate images.
The second issue was more subtle. Somehow, as a mixed-race Midwesterner who went to middle school in Illinois and Indiana, I just wasn't taught that much about the Civil War. Of course I was taught about slavery and the war and Lincoln, but the Confederacy was not really dwelt upon. The South lost... slavery was abolished... Lincoln became a hero... and we all lived happily ever after, no? So when I started on this cover I knew that the main character was a Southerner and so I went hunting for Confederate imagery. Flags are usually very bold and colorful and the Union Jack looked nice, so I included one prominently on every comp. My design manager (who grew up in Corpus Christi) suggested that I show at least one cover without a flag—which I thought was a little odd—but I complied. The author liked many of the ideas I presented, but he was adamant about not having just the Confederate flag on the cover. This is why the final design includes both it and the Union flag (a 'fair and balanced' cover, if you will). It's a cultural thing I was just not aware of. Obviously, the Confederate flag is still a very salient and loaded symbol which must be used with caution. (You can read the Wikipedia entry here.) Lesson learned.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Serial killer thriller!
The novel is about a serial killer whose murders are recreations of Salvador Dali paintings. The story opens with the discovery of the body of a college student found on a beach with an inexplicably precise rectangular hole cut through her abdomen. The victim is propped up and surrounded by a peculiar montage. Later, the investigators link this scene with the Dali painting Weaning of Furniture—Nutrition, 1934 (below). That Dali! Probably the only man stranger than Dali is this guy. But I digress.
Here are my reinterpretations:
Then I decided to go in some different directions.
Here are my reinterpretations:
Then I decided to go in some different directions.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
New novel
This author came to the design process with a specific look in mind. I've learned that the best way to facilitate the design process in these types of situations is to make sure the client is involved every step of the way and to make sure to get their buy-in throughout the process.
In this case, the author chose the seascape from a lightbox of images I selected; she chose the silhouette of the man from another lightbox; we worked on creating the reflection together, etc. While it would have been more personally satisfying to explore different concepts for this novel, doing so would have just frustrated this client. In the end, she is satisfied and the cover is solid.
In this case, the author chose the seascape from a lightbox of images I selected; she chose the silhouette of the man from another lightbox; we worked on creating the reflection together, etc. While it would have been more personally satisfying to explore different concepts for this novel, doing so would have just frustrated this client. In the end, she is satisfied and the cover is solid.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Civil War comps
This week I've been knee deep in Civil War imagery and typography. My assignment was to design a cover for a historical novel about a young idealistic man who joins the Confederate army to fight for states' rights (and to impress the love of his life). He eventually also falls for his beloved's sister...
Not surprisingly I ran across some pretty gruesome battlefield photos. But I also found some great Flickr albums like this one as well as repository websites such as The American Civil War Photo Gallery.
I did some typographic research as well. Click here to see the MyFonts album I created. There are some really gorgeous fonts in there such as Thorowgood, Old Glory, Shady Lady, Eden, Elongated Roman, and Miss Scarlett.
Finally, here are the comps that resulted from all that research...
Not surprisingly I ran across some pretty gruesome battlefield photos. But I also found some great Flickr albums like this one as well as repository websites such as The American Civil War Photo Gallery.
I did some typographic research as well. Click here to see the MyFonts album I created. There are some really gorgeous fonts in there such as Thorowgood, Old Glory, Shady Lady, Eden, Elongated Roman, and Miss Scarlett.
Finally, here are the comps that resulted from all that research...
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