Reassessment Project

Art Journal

26/7/2021

The project is working on a series of three books, each book is in a different genre. I picked three out of six books for this project they are: 1. Mystery Novel: 'Idiot Wind' by Robert Zimmerman, 2. Sci-Fi: ‘Into the Great Wide Open’ by Tom Petty, and 4. Horror: 'Hells Bells' by Brian Johnson. While they are based on songs and writers from a long time ago, I did my research on the genres; mystery, sci-fi and horror. After the research stage, I developed my ideas by creating 9 for each book cover. From those 9 I created 3 of the best ideas and finally the best idea I did for the final design. After the research and development sections, I will present my final designs for each book cover.

Book 1: Idiot Wind

Researching the Mystery Genre

I began my research by looking at each of the genres I've picked for the project. I picked the mystery genre because stories of mystery novels are interesting, they're so full of questions to the crimes of thievery, murder or people disappearing like what? where? when? how? and why? for each mystery. I particularly like the stories of Sherlock Holmes.

For my research, I firstly created a moodboard filled with images and different mystery fonts. Some of the most famous movies and books as well as information about the history of mystery helped me shape my ideas about mystery genre. I found out lots about how the mystery genre is often about crime, solving puzzles and riddles as well as clues and suspects. I also found murder mystery games as well as the best mystery books and films. The artwork for these helped me get some ideas for how I would create a mystery book.

Moodboard of the Genre: Mystery

Development Stage of Idiot Wind Book Cover

I began the development of my book covers by creating another moodboard. This time it was about my ideas about the mystery genre. I used the lyrics of Idiot Wind for further inspiration but based my ideas about my research on the genre itself. I included things like storms. Bad weather is often used in the mystery genre to create suspense. Most times people are trapped inside because of storms like Murder on the Orient Express. The train is stopped because of snow.

Idiot Wind: Development Stage

Mystery -Book Cover Ideas Moodboard

After this I creating thumbnails of different ideas. I took elements from both my moodboards to create the drawings. They are also based on life experiences, and friends and family inspired me. Using the lyrics I found, I created 9 ideas. They all reflect my idea of mystery genre with some murder, thievery, and disappearances.

Thumbnails – drawing my first ideas

I chose the best ideas to progress further. Of my ideas I had a few that I could use for the final design. Idea 4 is showing that there are two people talking and in the same room there’s a dead body hiding. Because crime is a key theme of the mystery genre. The idea 7 is showing someone peaking in a window and a shadow of someone coming to an open door. Because mystery shows that something is about to happen.

While I felt these ideas were good, I felt idea 9 was different in tone than to the other ideas, mystery isn't all about murder and thievery and so I wanted to show a range of ideas. This book design was done in digital collage and shows a boy going to solve crime with his pet dog, it has reminded me of me and my dog Purdy back at home. I tried different fonts with this design, one was more threatening and created as magazine clippings. I preferred the second version as it was still within mystery genre but more like a kids book. Like Scooby Doo or Inspector Gadget. I created a mockup version of this design as well as adding the fonts digitally.

Developing the Final Book Design: Idiot Wind

Idea 6 was the one I chose to use for my final book design. This is because, the figure with no face and no identity, with just a question mark - creates a mystery. I also recreated figures for background to demonstrate that the crime could have been committed to anybody. You just don’t know which one is the criminal. My initial idea was to use a black font on a white background in a font like writing to make it look like a letter. This would help create the sense of mystery and fear.

I did a mind map to help me reach final ideas. This helped me decide which font, colours and themes to use for the final design.

For my first attempt I used an image of a man from Google to help me picture the final idea. I knew I wanted to use the ransom note font - which I drew myself. But I felt there was more I could do to make the figures more mysterious and threatening.

A lot of my artwork for the Book design Idiot Wind, has been done in a mixture of drawings, scans and photos. Instead of the original image from Google for the final design I wanted to create my own. Using the fonts from the number drawings and photos I have back at home, to make it more like they're letters cut-out of magazines.

For my final design I used the pictures of my family and used photoshop levels to blacken them completely, taking away their identity. I used different people rather than the same person, as in idea 2, to show that the criminal could be anyone in any gender or in any size. I also recreated the font in photoshop rather than drawing to make it clearer. I put the blurb in white font to break away from the pitch black – it makes it clearer to read and also keeps the theme in black and white, which makes the title font stand out more because it is colourful.

I felt the font was the only thing that needed changes made still. I changed the colours to make this stand out. This is the only colour on the front design which helps you see the ransom note and makes the cover more mysterious and threatening. I also made the question mark in the main character smaller for the final version. I chose to put the blurb in white to help make the ransom note font stand out. I also put it above the background character’s heads so that this would not detract from looking at them.

Final Book Design: Idiot Wind

Book 2: Into the Great Wide Open

Researching the Sci-fi Genre

I picked the Sci-fi genre because I find it amazing. There is so much wonder to what's out there in the stars, like other planets, advanced science and technology and extraterrestrial life. It is incredible how anything that could be living out there than just our planet full of animals, fish, plants and humans.

Again, I researched the history of the Sci-Fi genre and where it originated. Many people argue about this. Some people say Mary Shelley’s book about Frankenstein was the first science fiction book, as we know the genre today.

I looked at famous books and films about science fiction and found great fonts – like the one used in Star Wars.

Moodboard of the Genre: Sci-if

Development Stage of Into the Great Wide Open Book Cover

I used another moodboard to help me gather my ideas. I wanted o show the wonder of what’s out there in the stars, like other planets, and advance science and technology. What the future might look like. Imagery of galaxies and planets as well as my ideas about famous sci-fi novels and films was useful for my first drafts. I took lots of inspiration from my research into the genre.

Into the Great Wide Open: Development Stage

Sci-if Book Cover Ideas

I began the development of my book covers by creating thumbnails of different ideas. They are based on life experiences, and friends and family inspired me. Using the lyrics I found, I created 9 ideas. They all reflect my idea of sci-fi genre with so much wonder to what's out there in the stars, like other planets, advanced science and technology and extraterrestrial life, etc....

Thumbnails – drawing my first ideas

From these drawings I finalised my best ideas. Idea of idea 2 is showing a sky full of stars and planets, and the two people with the same tattoos. This idea was inspired by the movie total recall 2012, where in a future, there’re a lot people with tattoos, but they’re glowing. This is a lot about the future of technology and how it can impact life. And idea 6 is showing a farm with the farmer and his pet dog watching a rocket shooting into space, this made me think of several sci-if movies and books, that are living in lonely spots in the world you could see something unexpected will come from the stars.

I tried a number of different ideas. I thought idea 7 was in a different composition to the other ideas. This book design was done in colouring pen showing the big red rocket leaving the planet earth is something that everyone sees on the tv or on some children’s book. But it’s also shows an idea that a rocket launching into space is about to explore what’s new to the galaxy.

My artwork for the Book designs has been done by a lot of colouring pen instead of using images from Google of sci-fi for the final design I wanted to create my own. Using the fonts from my moodboard of research on the sci-fi genre to make it more exciting for people to say "I want to go over there."

I also played with lots of different colours and textures. While my best ideas were a light blue, I tried drawings where the sky was darker to emphasise the planets.

Developing the Final Book Design: Into the Great Wide Open

Idea 4, was the one I chose to use for my final book design because I wanted to design something that was more on the stars and planets, like something that no one has ever seen before. The planets in the cover have been created differently then the planets we know today. I took a lot of inspiration from th book The hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy. Where the book cover has a few planets on and the title on the book cover, I wanted it to clear and colourful to see.

I did a mind map to help me reach final ideas. This helped me decide which font, colours and themes to use for the final design.

For my final changes, to make the title and blurb on the book design more clearer for people to see, where the planets or stars are not making it any difficult. I also felt in my original idea, while the blurb was interesting because it fit into a planet, it was not that easy to see. That led to my decision to swap the front and back cover. This helped make my text more visible. I also removed some of the stars from behind the text to help see better.

I used the drawings I’ve done earlier and scanned them on photoshop with adjustment in colour and levels to make them less-like they’re drawn and more colourful. I made the blurb font orange to help it stand out. This also tied in with the colours of the planets.

Final Book Design: Into the Great Wide Open

Book 3: Hells Bells

Researching the Horror Genre

My research of the horror genre was based on the history of horror as well as the most beloved novels and films. I researched the most famous writers like Stephen King and what tropes you usually find in his books – like lots of terror and fear and nightmares. Common themes from the genre were disgust, lots of blood and guts splashing everywhere. Most of all. Fear. Interestingly, Frankenstein is considered both a horror and sci-fi novel. I found lots of cool fonts, some with blood dripping down, others were sharp like knives. Some are bold, like the old movie posters ‘IT’s ALIVE’.

Moodboard of the genre: Horror

Development Stage of Hells Bells Book Cover

I created a moodboard with images that helped my ideas. Lots of images of the devil sprung out to me, as well as fire and crazy weather caused by the devil himself. I liked the bells so tried to include that where possible. I used the lyrics of the song to help structure the ideas.

Hells Bells: Development Stage

Horror Book Cover Ideas

Then I did some sketches of my final designs and created thumbnails. I did a lot of images of the devil, as well as fire and bells just like my moodboard. I even used the bell ringing and calling a dinosaur, this is because I have always thought the Carnotaurus has horns that look like the devil.

Thumbnails – drawing my first ideas

My best designs, I then created full-scale images of in watercolour paint. Idea 1 was to show several tornados across the book cover in one of the tornados is the shape of the devil, and idea 2 is to show a dark and frightening bell with horns on top and showing lightning across the background. Both of these ideas made it more frightening horror can be wherever the devil can be. I chose one of the scariest fonts from my moodboard to use. For the tornado book cover, I used plain red to help the drawings stand out. For the second cover, I put horns on the bell so that it was like the devil. I used lightning in the background so you can picture the loud noises of the bell. Shading helped to make the bell really stand out.

Developing the Final Book Design: Hells Bells

Idea 7, was the one I chose to use for my final book design, the idea is to show an earthquake or a crack from earth, making an entrance to hell and a hand of the devil coming out of it. The bells swinging across the whole book cover shows that they are calling the devil. I did another moodboard which shows how I came up with the ideas, such as the claws on the devil’s hand as well as the cracks in the earth.

I made some big changes early on from there. For example the background was too light and white and since this book design is a horror genre, I needed to work on making it a lot darker and more horrifying for everyone to see.

For my design I used the same watercolour material several times for further development, but adjusted them in colour and light on photoshop.

I also recreated the font in photoshop by making it more red, dark and scary to see. I put the blurb in an white font to make it visible to read against the darkness around the background – it makes it clearer to read. I also felt that while the Tomb Raider font was interesting, it wasn’t a horror font so I changed that to make it more menacing. I used the same font as the title for the blurb but I made it white so it would match the shading on the bells. That would help tie it all together. I also kept the Penguin logo white and the barcorde for that same reason.