This cover was especially hard for me because of the abstract concept of death and the afterlife. It seemed like everyone had a different opinion on what the mood of the package was. I took it as death was a unifying factor for everyone, but where we go after is up to you and your beliefs. There was obviously that very mysterious "what now?" factor. But, I wanted to show both factors, not just the etherealness. I immediately thought of the Emily Dickinson line in her poem Death, which reads "Because I could not stop for Death, he kindly stopped for me." Thus, implying that death stops for everyone like it or not, but he will take you where you want/need to go. I don't think anyone really got what I was trying to get at, but this is one of the few times I stuck to my design and worked to improve my concept as is. I really believed I had it right and I was at least proud of myself for being headstrong and semi-confident. Although it kind of scares me when I, of all people, have the most abstract idea in the room (i.e. I'm not a very naturally creative person...I must have been thinking too hard).
Anyway, one long-winded paragraph later, here's how it turned out:
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| click to view it original size to see the details. if you want. |
I decided to make Death a cute little chauffeur guy, taking you where you want to go. At first it looked too vector-y, so I added some texture, but I think I could have done a better job still. I really need to go through and do some Illustrator tutorials to learn how to make my drawings look less flat. I think my typography was fairly well executed. I used varying levels of opaqueness to create a kind of floating effect, like whoa what's going on, where am I? Then the background is supposed to create the ethereal effect, like going towards the light. I always forget though that the end product will be on newsprint, so the gradient would probably look really ugly. I basically just wanted to contrast the starkness of death and the up-in-the-airness of the afterlife. Maybe I went off the deep-end though.
I have to say, I really like your finished cover! The illustration - however flat you may think it is - is just as complicated as it needs to be. Sometimes, graphics or illustrations try too hard. It seems to me like failing to properly execute a complicated illustration looks much more childish or unprofessional than resorting to a cleaner, simpler one. The floating bow tie is my favorite part, personally. The fact that the shape of the body and tux is also reminiscent of a coffin is great too.
ReplyDeleteI hope you can use this little guy again in some sort of inside spread or other design (He would probably also text-wrap great into some body copy for something!).
I agree with Leeann. I really liked your final cover. I think everyone in your group did a nice job, so you had some tough competition. But I think your cover is very eye-catching. If it was on the stands, I would definitely take notice of it.
ReplyDeleteAnd you aren't the only one freaked out by covers. It seems like they would be simpler than multiple page layouts in theory, but that makes them all the more intimidating. The simplest things could make them or break them. But for someone who says you don't like covers, I think you did a nice job with your final cover on this.
I think you did a great job with this cover. It is exciting to see how far is came from when you explained your initial concept during the first week for your group. I especially like how you treated the death figure. The texture is great and, with the glow behind the figure, it pops!
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, I think you made a nice use of varied fonts. The way "now" is in a different font makes it stand out, but it is not distracting from the rest of the type. One of my major downfalls is font choice, so I envy your ability there. I remember, I really liked the typeface you chose for your Roll On spread, too. I'll be excited to see how you work with letters and type in the future.
The only thing I would like to see with this cover is the box around "Vox" disappearing. Maybe "Vox" could be in that gray color. I am not sure if it would look better, but I think it would be worth playing with a little bit.
Anyways, good job!