Thesaurus Notes

The theme we were given was 'Inside, Outside and In between' so I put the words through the dictionary to get the meaning behind the words. By also putting the words into a thesaurus it showed related and similar phrases. From this I was able to pick out certain words that I could then form an idea from and take through to brainstorming.

Brainstorming

For my brainstorming I took three ideas that I got from the thesaurus notes and put them against the forms that can be used to portray my ideas. By doing this it showed the different options that each process can bring. It also allowed me to explore each individual idea more helping me finalise which I wanted to carry through to a final piece.

Conventions of The Form

For research into children's books I took different front covers and looked at each individual component and compared them together.

Pinterest Research

At the beginning I began to collect images that were connected to my idea and the form I wanted to use. This helped me as a reference to make sure I kept to the conventions of a children's book, it also allowed me to collect different styles and processes that may not be directly linked to children's literature. From this I could then extend my research by selecting new processes to experiment with and connect it to the style of my book. Through out the process I continued to collect images which ment I could widen my thought process to the style, layout and form my final book was done in.

Other Books

General Stuff I Like

Stuff That Will Be In My Book 

Photos of subject matter

Acrylic Process

For this process I only used monochrome colours so just black and white. I first started with the background using very broad brush strokes just focusing on the dark and lighter areas. After this I began to build up the foreground image focusing on the dark shadows then adding lighter tones to bring out the detail of the image, with thought going to how the light catches and hits the object.

Julia Rothman Artist Copy

Original work done by Julia Rothman

My artist copy using different images taken from through out her book.

I chose to use Julia's work as an artist copy because it's an educational book and the individual drawings are really detailed and beautifully done. However it isn't aimed at children like my book will be but it did give me an idea of how to layout each page and how to present the information. It also allowed be to experiment with ink and watercolour as a form with is a process with I enjoy working with.

I created this by drawing out the images I wanted to use then colouring them using watercolours. After this I added detail by using a fine liner pen, I then took the images into Photoshop and arranged them on the page. To finish I added the background colour, the text and the lighter boxes of colour.

Here is my emulation of Julia Rothman's work:

(Work in progress)

Final front and back cover design:

Chris Haughton Case Study

For this case study I will look at a by created by Chris Haughton which follows the story of an owl that has fallen out of his nest and is trying to find a way back.

CONTEXT AND CONTENT

Little Owl Lost is a Children's book that follows a baby owl that has just fallen out of his nest and is trying to find a way back. By comparing these two case studies you can see that they are both book covers for children’s book but the Little Owl Lost is a much more modern book cover to Winnie The Pooh. This book cover follows the conventions of modern children’s books by having large, bold, bright text which is easy for kids to read and bright, eye catching colours that will draw people to the book if it is mixed with other books. The front cover is a contrast to the rest of the pages in the book as the cover is very basic and simple whereas the inside pages are more adventurous and shocking as colours have more intensity and the imagery becoming slightly more complicated with the overlapping colour layers.

FORM

The colour palette for Little Owl Lost is very bright and striking with the colours focusing mainly on the primary colours but just with changes in there tone. Chris Haughton uses colours as layers especially in the background with the very light colours being at the deepest part of the background and as you progress to the foreground get darker in tone. They do this until the layer in the most foreground is practically black. For example on one page the colour in the background goes from yellow, to an orange/ red to black in the foreground. This however is not portrayed on the front cover as the colours are made up of the darker tones used in the book with only the white of the writing being the brightest colour on the cover. The layout of the front cover is very basic with only the title and an image of the owl being shown, the composition is very symmetrical with the two elements being in the centre and surrounded by the background colour. The cover is heavily influenced by computers through the range of colours used and layering of the colours and crispness of the lines. Texture is not featured through this book as the illustrations are very 2-dimensional. There is a large contrast between the dark and light colours on the page giving the image a sense of depth and perspective.

PROCESS

This book cover is made using very modern techniques with mostly computers, with it possibly being drawn out before hand then being coloured and put together on the computers. There is no bleeding within the illustrations with the colour being held within very crisp lines. On some of the double page spreads there is use of the four colour process (CMYK) which allows the colours to stand out on the page more. With some use of overprinting in the background.

PERSONAL RESPONSE

What I like and drew me to this front cover is the unique style and colours that it gives the reader. The drawing style and background patterns are very stylised and powerful and stay in your mind even after you have finished reading. I also like this cover because of the text style that are very influenced by the artist and draws your attention to it. Also the image of the owl is very sweet and makes you want to look inside the book at the rest of the images.

Drawings From Life

Katy Couprie and Antonin Louchard Artist Copy

Examples of Katy Couprie and Antonin Louchard's work with the piece I used as an artist copy below:

Here is my finished artist copy:

Emulation of Katy Couprie and Antonin Louchard's work:

Initial Ideas

Here I am brainstorming everything linked to my book whether it is the way each page is presented, the interaction between the text and the images or how busy and full each page will be.

Drafting

Experimenting with different page layouts and process ideas for my front and back cover.

Final 4 front cover ideas that I have decided upon.

Experiment - Using Typefaces

As an experiment I created my own typefaces focusing on the subject matter of my book - farms.

Experimenting

For this first experiment I focused on the process of printing, to do this I started by cutting out the animal shapes and then printing both paper cuts. I then took them into photoshop and began to experiment with repeating patterns as a possible idea for the end pages of my book. I also began to add in a background which had also been printed and changing the colour so that it would be complementary to the rest of the piece. I wanted to use this process because of the texture and the grainy outline it gives the piece and it is not a process I have really explored and I was interested to see how I could incorporate it into my book.

For this next experiment I wanted to see how I could use college in my book. I did this by collecting different types of paper for example atlas pages, dictionary pages and graph paper, I then tea stained them to add another aspect of texture and also to make the design on the paper stand out more on the white background. I then took the piece into Photoshop and added coloured boxes with the opacity reduced so you can still see the college piece behind it. With the background complete I then used the animal prints and used them as the foreground pictures, I also added an ink outline which I did with a brush I offset the bold outline so that the outlines did not match up completely. To finish the piece I also included images that were just made up of the bold outline or the printing animals without the outline. I like working with this technique because it makes the look of the page more interesting with different parts of the page drawing your attention.

Ernest H Shepard Case Study

For this case study I will look at the illustrations done by Ernest H Shepard especially those connection to the Winnie-The-Pooh books and A.A. Milne.

CONTEXT AND CONTENT

This is a book cover of the Winnie The Pooh books by A.A Milne and illustrations from Ernest H Shepard, created in 1926. It follows the story of a group of animals including Winnie The Pooh on their adventures and during their problems they have to face. Its form follows the expected conventions you would associate with a children’s book of that time, it does this through its simple imagery, use of panels to separate different sections and simplicity and professional feel to the book cover.

FORM

The colour palette is natural and basic with it only comprising of several key colours – including blues, browns, greens and yellows. This colour palette is then expanded to also include reds and pinks for illustrations further in the book. The appearance of grids in the composition layout gives it a manufactured feel along with the generic computer text but there is evidence of the hand that made it through the style of the illustrations. This is by the bleeding of the background colour so is not contained within the lines, the scratchy inky line and the hatching technique that would be difficult to replicate by a computer making it feel like it was done by hand. Texture does not really feature in this book cover with the image being very flat to the page. The use of compartments draws your focus to each individual part of the page with the structure of the composition focusing on the centre panel and the title of the book.

PROCESS

This book cover is made very professionally that will attract many people to buy the book. It uses a mixture of modern and classic techniques with the classic water colour and inky pen technique combined with the composition and printing given by the computer.

PERSONAL RESPONSE

What drew my attention to this book cover was the unique style and simplicity of it. The combination of a subtle colour scheme and the separation of different elements of the front cover gives the book a professional and expensive look to it, that you may not expect from children’s books in modern times. I like this book cover because it is modern for its time with only certain aspects of it revealing the time at which it was actually created for example the way the page is split into compartments.