Book Cover Assignment & Rationale

Monotone

Monotone is a single colour or tone used in a design. The imagery not being too complex creates a single tone, coupled with the monotonic typeface which perceives a classic but simple tone about it and kept the same colours and tone right throughout.

Broken into the rule of thirds, the design creates the hierarchy of being an image heavy book cover sending the simple message and tone of passion.

Futuristic

Futuristic is a theme commonly related with sci-fi, Star Wars and Star Trek. When looking at glowing neon lights created on posters or in this case book covers, most people instantly think of laser beams associated by society with the future. Because of the "Matrix" people now associate fluro green with a futuristic theme which is why I have chosen variations of that for the book cover.

Brought together with that specific relation is the glowing lines used throughout the cover. The book cover is image heavy and the type is the secondary focal point. the blockiness of the type and sharp lines again link to the sci-fi related movie titles.

In relation to the book 'The Scarlet Letter', Hester was seen as a mistress an adultery temptress, shunned by society which is why I have her facing away from the reader emphasising her lack of connection she had with humans because of her sin.

Dynamic

Dynamic means live and movement. Dynamic design is constantly moving the readers eye all over the page, but in a very deliberate composition.

The deliberate positioning of the display type is there as the main focal point of the hierarchy, gaining the readers interest with a well known book and than to the supplementary images and finally the authors name. The dynamic letterforming personifies movement as each letter is positioned in a different space, connected with the faint lines creating movement along the cover.

The image itself is to represent the main protagonist Hester and the constant change throughout her life and how she is perceived in society.

Grunge

grunge is a very dirty and unclean design or theme. It is usually seen as rough and burnt relating to the hardcore punk rock bands of the 1970's, this relates to the typeface of the typography used. Although it is somewhat clean and deliberate the brokenness and dirty feel to it adds character to the book covers theme.

In relation to the use of type the imagery is the emphasise between sunlight and darkness, visibility and concealment.

The viewer is drawn to the title, flush right to the page, deliberately placed to then let the viewers eye wander and question what is concealed behind the dark clouds. This relating to Hester's vulnerability throughout the day when secrets are kept from society and night is when unacceptable activities occur.

Aggressive

'The Scarlet Letter' is about many types and forms of aggression. This composition is all about sin, the relationship between hate and love and the nature of evil and what it symbolises. In the book the identity of the "Black Man" is the embodiment of evil. The "Black Man" shows aggression against Pearl thought to be the devils child. Aggression through the "Black Man" is the root of all Chillingworths hate and selfishness.

The faint image of the black man is there to engage the viewer to see a mysterious figure and provoke emotions of "should I be scared?", "who is this person" or "why is he staring" The typeface and the colour is combined together to personify anger, aggression and blood.

Centred to draw the readers eye straight to the middle of the cover is the title creating a symmetrical theme drawing the readers eye to the important information and than to the supplementary information which is the authors name.

The use of negative space is deliberate and intended to force the readers eye to the title. Creating the overall tone of this cover the expression of aggression.

Passive

Passive is not reacting visibly when expecting to produce an emotion. It is to be submissive, unresisting, quite and the use of calming tones.

Relating to this is the type which has a more organic, curvilinear form associated with feminine characteristics. The typeface is smooth, unresisting and calming which allows the reader to become submissive when viewing the cover. It does not particularly show much emotion, just Pearl and her mother together, creating that bond between mother and daughter brought upon them early in the book when shunned from society. Pearl being the focal point of this image is a constant reminder to her mother Hester of her wicked sin, but still remains to live her life with her passive nature.

The typography is deliberately placed so it is not in the readers face, rather easy to look at and absorb which is what passive represents.

Modern

Modern design as David Carson has said is becoming more and more minimal when sending a message. Society has become so fast paced that the message being conveyed need to be heard fast or not at all. This is the theory behind this book cover.

The simple rose is in the centre is to catch the readers eye at first glance to engage them, this being the main focus in the hierarchy. As the reader glances down there is the simple, easy to read and retain san-serif.

There is no clutter in this design, it is clean and conforms to a minimalist theme, using the deliberate negative place.

in relation to the book the rode is a symbol of the rose bush outside next to the prison where the characters are tormented between light and darkness, subtly emphasised through a soft gradient. In relation to the colour used in the rose, scarlet red being the colour of the "A" sewn onto Hester's clothes is that constant reminder to society of her sin. Which raises the question if Hester went through life without that symbol on her clothes would she still be remembered?

Retro

Retro is Pop Art, colourful, flamboyant, the 1960's. Now anything retro or commonly know as vintage is anything between the 1960's to 70's. Retro is lines and the continuation of the flow of the lines connecting.

The typeface and the letterforms create the continual flow form one letter to another, kerned specifically for that theme. The type although being the secondary information on the book cover still reflects the aesthetics of the retro era.

The main hierarchy being the colourful imagery. The photo itself is there to contrast against the colourful water marks that create the image. This illustrating that on the outside society only perceives her as the evil adulterer but her passion and love on the inside is what makes her who she is.

Classic

Classic is an Audrey Hepburn poster for one of her most famous romantic movies. It is something that is timeless and to never be forgotten. This design I believe relates to the classic theme.

The design uses a serif typeface which captures the theme as this particular typeface Garamond is in fact known as classic and timeless, reflecting the aesthetics of that era. The image connects well with the typeface as the book cover is spilt into the rule of thirds, creating hierarchy of imagery in the middle than the title and finally the authors name.

This design is suitable for the book "The Scarlet Letter" because the book is about the star-crossed lovers longing to be with each other and share their passion.

The Design Solution

This is my final design solution. We have shown all of our final logos to the client in an email and they have chosen this one as the corporate identity for their business. From here I am going to continue working with the client to achieve the other promotional materials.

Generating Ideas

Vector Illustrated Drafts and Hand Sketches

My initial drafts started from sketching ideas that I researched previously to come up with similar shapes and designs as a start to progress them into my own original design.

I started with sketching with just the name "Fitness 4 Women" and came across the issue of the number 4 being one of the hards numbers to work with. From here I progressed into ways I could work that number 4 into the initial design. I researched for many hours about how other artists have incorporated numbers into logos. I came across heaps of designs that were both interesting and good use of the number. Unfortunately throughout my research there weren't many business name with the number 4 in it.

From here I looked back at my first sketches and decided that some how the number 4 would become the main focus and logo for the business.

Again I researched more about the female figure and how can be used in simple shapes in a way that portrays fitness and health. Knowing that the client only wanted the colour pink for the logo proved to be difficult as well, as it is a boring colour on it's own and hard to make look good when the logo only can have various hues and tints.

Constantly hassling my group members, class mates and teachers for advice on whether it the logo design looked like a 4, what changes could I make to make it more recognisable as the number 4 and whether the type suited the demographic. I found that the type I chose (helvetica neue) was well suited for when it came to a female demographic. The type I believe is strong but has the rounded, soft curves that emits femininity and the curves that is commonly related to a woman.

The logo itself was hard to perfect but I believe I got it to where liked. The number 4 personified into a woman bending and jumping, I see effectively portrays a woman's gym.

I chose to use gradients in this logo because when I was researching recent logo trends there seemed to be many business identities effectively using subtle gradients to convey a bend or shadows. It was something modern that would I thought to appeal to a business, it is also something that I don't think will expire in years to come as it is a very versatile corporate identity.

Undertaking Research to Inform the Design Solution

I found these designs as inspiration for my own designs, as it gave me incite into what has been done and what was successful in a regional and interstate area. They gave me ideas and inspiration for shapes and typefaces to use in this specific demographic.

Defining The Design Challenge

An assessment was given to us as a real world design challenge and we as a class were given 4 different jobs:

* Home Tavern - TV Promotions

* Gibbs Design - New website

* TAFE - Promotional posters

* Fitness 4 Women Gym - corporate identity rebrand

Individually we got the choose which job we would like, playing on our strengths/likes to achieve the best result. I chose the Fitness 4 Women Gym corporate identity rebrand along with Pip and Skye.

As a group we knew this job could get out of hand quickly and the work load could become too much for students freelancing for no profit. Once we made contact and I arranged a meeting 23rd May 2011, we gathered as a group and discussed what we would ask and talk about with Sharon Ford, owner of Fitness 4 Women.

Some of our questions were:

- What colours would she like/dislike for her business identity?

- What promotional materials would she like done?

- If so will images be supplied?

- Will the rebrand package just be a business name or include and logo?

We decided though before we asked these questions to our client that the best approach would be is to let our client tell us what she wants and then go away from the meeting. From there work out what we can do now and will consider doing in the future.

Our client was prepared as she knew what she wanted and where she would like to take the business, which was away from the previously owned business "Contours". Some of the promotional material she asked for was:

- Identity/Rebrand

- Business cards (for owner plus other staff members)/Stationary (letterheads, etc.)

- Mailbox Flyers (quartly)

- Motivational Posters

- Pull-down poster

- 12 day pass card

- Promotional clothing and packages (towels, hats, t-shirts, backpacks, nail files, etc.)

- Stickers for windows/car

- Sign for the shop front

Our client knew what she wanted promotional wise for her business but we weren't quite sure if she knew what she wanted branding wise. She never really gave is a defiant answer on what she would consider for a logo or if she wanted a new one at all. The client just left it up to us as designers to decide on what would would be best.

As a suggestion during the meeting we told our client that we would consider everything she asked and decide on where we will start and what is going to be appropriate for the business at that stage.

I believe we all behaved in a professional manner and dressed appropriately at all encounters and meetings. Personally we didn't have to be firm with our client as they were both relaxed and easygoing about the whole process and very open to all ideas brought to them. Again personally I wasn't intimidated by the client, there were occasions where I was nervous in anticipation to what their response would be. I don't believe Sharon or Charles were intimidated by us as they are professional business people who deal with employee's and other business people everyday.

We met with our client twice after the initial meeting and in contact during the whole process via mobile phone calls and email. We decided that the whole promotional package we were asked to do by the client was going to be too large for us to complete in such a short amount of time, so we told our client that too complete any other promotional work we would have to start simply with a logo design. For a first job I experienced the pressure of real cliental work and all the issues that are involved in working within a group.

Water Bottle Design Rationale & Feedback

Designing for this assignment proved to be difficult for me as I couldn't come up with a plan or design that would effectively solve the design problem that was outlined in the brief.

My first design/idea was to do with nature and how it is being affected. This was to be shown through an aluminium bottle coming out of a flower with the slogan "nature prefers aluminium". But when we had a class discussion at the art rooms, my design idea was (what I thought it would be) too complex and needed to be simplified.

So I went back the drawing boards and did some more research and kept coming up with ideas such as:

* "It's Our Planet It's What We Make Of It"

* "I'd Rather Be Naked, Strip Off The Plastic"

With these designs the first one was going to be about how the plastic bottles are affecting the planet, but I just couldn't get the imagery right. The second idea was to have a play on words looking at a different target market of the male demographic. But once I got feedback on this design, luckily before I went any further, I was told poor imagery and too complex again.

After all this work I was under a lot of pressure to produce something before the deadline, but I was struggling to come up with an idea that fulfilled the intended clients needs. I started researching again for more inspiration as to how the message that was trying to be conveyed, could be portrayed effectively. I started looking at the natural side of things and started sketching. I wanted something clean, crisp and produce a clear message. I started with a white canvas and went from there, with the idea in mind to not ruin a good white page.

I chose this imagery because I wanted people to understand that by drinking tap water instead of out of plastic bottles we in turn will save nature and life.

Unfortunately I got sick during the feedback session and couldn't be there on that day, but I managed when I came back to have a mini feedback session around the class and asked them on what they thought and if it fulfilled the brief. What I gained from this was that there was good strong imagery and poor type, which in turn doesn't get the message intended across. They said the typeface and positioning really let my design down and could have been rethought. i agree completely with this feedback and understand now how typography can have such a dramatic affect on a design. I learnt from this that concept and planning is the key to a good design.

Water Bottle Projects Rough

Sketches/Ideas:

Drafts/Planning Take 1:

Drafts of Final Poster/Design:

Article Review

Portfolio Design 101

http://www.creativelatitude.com/articles/article_200701_swengler.html

* When designing a portfolio it's more affective to custom design the format, rather then to have a mass produced design.

* Have a larger portfolio to create a better affect with works that deserve to be bigger

* Have no more than 20 pieces in a portfolio as an interviewer only have a certain amount of time and they need to see your best work, not sort through mediocre works.

* Fine art and illustration go in separate folios.

* Always take care in the presentation, no smudges, glue marks, dodgey cutouts.

* Update constantly.

* Buy best quality materials.

Setting Yourself Apart from Other Designers

http://www.creativelatitude.com/articles/article_1204_schul.html

* You have to know who you are as a designer, so you can play to that strength to set yourself apart from other designers.

* Always take risks, don't just think the jobs going to be too hard. Go out and learn the techniques and skills you need to master the job and create the best piece of work.

* Provide a service that sets you apart from the other designers, that makes you different. Be reliable, invest your time into getting to know your client industry and them. This gives you a better ability to guide them into a design that will benefit them as business owners.

* Be intelligent and energetic about designs and clients, it will show that you are professional and offer a better service then others.

Procrastination- A Four-Letter Word

http://www.creativelatitude.com/articles/article_200706_caldwell.html

* 5 stages of procrastination:

- Denial

- Anger

- Bargaining

- Depression

- Acceptance

* We procrastinate because:

- Lack of Vision: It's difficult to start the journey when you don't know where you are going. Setting goals or a checklist and keeping it simple will get the job done.

- Distractions: Start a list of things to do, to make yourself get them done.

- Fear of Getting it Wrong and Lack of Confidence: There's always ambition to do the task, just sometimes we don't know how. If you don't have to skills to get the job done then acquire them.

-Indecision: Just not deciding on how to accomplish the job. Find out how to do it.

-Boring Tasks: Just get the job done, there's a reason they need doing.

- Overwhelming Tasks, Don't Have The Time: delegate time to accomplish the job.

Self Promotion - Finding Your Theme

http://www.creativelatitude.com/articles/article_0704_potts.html

*Have initiative and honesty, your own promotion needs to be completely self generated.

* Work out how useful your designs will be to the client.

* Have to ask the right questions about ourselves and what represents us most.

BSBDES401A- Winter in Wagga

Report

1. What kind of research should be done prior to deciding on the form your promotional piece will take? Where and how will you conduct this research?

Researching what form the promotional piece will take would include going out into the city and finding what has been done and if it affectively got the message accross amongst society. Research the city itself, find out where the hot spots are in town, if there are any attractions or local history and anything that may be an interest for people who are looking for somewhere to go during winter. Mostly this information can be found on the internet and websites that specialise different and exciting ways to set out large amounts of infomation. The Wagga Information Centre is a place to go and find out what has been produced around the local area and what was the most affective and efficient according to form and function.

2. Why did you decide on this particular medium?

I decided that through my information and research that a booklet would be the most effective way of producing mass amounts of information and would be the most productive. I decided on this medium because it would be a simple and clean way to produce the information and a way that would be easily read. A booklet gives people lots of options depending on their likes and dislikes and hobbies. It is only an A5 booklet because I decided that it would be an easy option and if people wanted to take it home or to show someone else it wouldn’t take up much space and easily compacted.

3.What resources will you require for developing your piece?

To develop my piece I will need:

- Information about wagga

- Sources on where the best places are for accommodation

- Camera for photography

- Booklets, Posters, Flyers/promotional pieces on what there is to do in wagga

- Booklets for inspiration and ideas

4. Can you forsee any factors that may impact on your selection and use of resources?

- There could be a cost to sourcing booklets and promotional pieces, I don’t really want there to be any expenses during the research stage.

- With the booklet design I may have too much information and the piece may become cluttered and illegible.

- When creating the booklet it may get out of hand when choosing what the most important pieces of information should go in it, as some of the choices may become bias, for example when choosing what I think the best pub is when i’m meant to be promotioning the best pub for attracting tourists.

- There may be too many pages of information when the design of the booklet is just as important, if not more.

- Factors with copywriting, making sure when I am creating my promotional piece that it doesn’t look like anything I have drawn inspiration from.

5. What has been the feedback from colleagues about your design?

I have gotten a lot of feedback from my colleagues about my logo, when presenting my logo design my colleagues asked me what a snowflake has to do with Wagga, when I explained that it wasn’t symbolising a snowflake or that in Wagga there is snow it was symbolising that in Wagga there is marvoulous hills and valleys filled with frost and ice and that’s where I drew my inspiration from, they became more impressed by the concept and overall design of my logo.

The feedback over the design process was that what I feared woud be an issue was that i had too much information and not enough space which made the design too crowded and cluttered and drew away from the actual design layout of the booklet which was good. They said I need to cull through my information as some of it was irrelevant and something that the viewers could find out through visiting the supplied websites.

The feedback of my final piece was:

- My design it simple but clean

- It has a lot of information but its not too overwhelming

- A good use of negative space

6.What are the benefits of exposing your design to quality checks and ongoing analysis?

The benefits of exposing my promotional piece to checks and anaylsis by my peers and colleagues us that they offer insight and a point of view that is different and seeming the promotional piece is aimed for all ages it is beneifical to hear their point of view on how to improve the design to reach the target audience. Others might see something that I may have missed because when looking at a design for a while the little things tend to be skipped over. Ongoing analysis is benefical because it is reassurance that the design is on the right track and heading in a direction that is professional and asthetically pleasing.

7. How will your promotional piece assist in meeting the projects intended outcome?

I think my piece showcases what Wagga has to offer during the winter months quite effectively. It is directed at people of all ages and genders giving them options and showing that Wagga does have things to do during winter and that it’s not just a small country town, but has fun and excting things to do. It think that my design definently encourages tourists to visit Wagga as my design is not in their faces with information but warm and calming but still showing that as a tourist you can have a good time in Wagga.

8. How could you encourage your client to allocate more in their budget for this project?

I think the main point of encouragement would be that if there was more money in the budget the design and overall look would be better and more professional, showcasing Wagga as a classy place to visit, the more tourists would be attracted and inturn they will be creating a profit for themselves. Things like professional gloss/matte stock to print on, special printing options such as foiling or a celloglaze and different binding options such as a glued bind instead of a saddle stitched bind. Creating the idea that the client will be making more of a profit if they committ more money to the project would definently be a way of encouraging a budjet increase. This can be achieved by showing the client stats and figures (this that they can see) and examples of others towns that have had bigger budgets and the profits they recieved from doing that.

9. In what way could you present your design concept to the client to entice them into going ahead with your project idea? How will you present your final piece to your client?

I would go ahead and create a fancy slideshow to show them what I have created and a sample of the work to entice them and to show them what is capable of being done to promote Wagga. During the slide show give out lots of interesting facts about Wagga to show them that I am committed to the job and am interested in creating a better tourist profit for the town. I would explain how my logo promotes the beautiful landscapes of Wagga during winter and how that alone would be an appeal aspect to someone who lives in the busy city. I’d give them a printed version in the stock and whatever other effects that I would like for the booklet for example silver foiled heading on each page with foiled logo on the front and back, a glossy hard cover with glossy content pages.

I would present the final promotional piece to the client in printed form, for them to see and feel so they know exactly what will be relised to the public before the quanity desired is printed.

Printers Quotes

Kanga Print

www.kangaprint.com.au

A5 Booklet (A4 Spread)

Landscape

5000 quantity

150gsm gloss pages

230gsm gloss cover front and back, cellosheen

Saddle Stitched

Quote $5478.00

Printroom

www.printroom.com.au

A5 Booklet (A4 Spread)

Landscape

5000 quantity

150gsm gloss pages

230gsm gloss cover front and back, cellosheen

Saddle Stitched

Quote $5478.00

The prices were the same for both of these printery’s do this is the reason why I chose this company.

I decided to go with this printer because they seemed very professional about how they give quotes, they give and range of options and they give out very specific details of how they want the product to be sent. They prefer the document to be set up with:

- 2mm bleed

-PDF format

- Single pages

ICPPP224B - Artist Promotional Booklet

Rationale

What kind of questions do you think you would need to ask your client prior to commencing the design?

- What they would like in the booklet; works, what they written about them.

- What designs they have been looking at either on the internet or booklets they have collected for inspiration for their promotional booklet

- What size they want their booklet; whether it be portrait or landscape and the paper size A4 as a an example.

- Do they want any of their works to be the feature of the booklet, whether some of their works would have its own spread.

- Are they supplying copies of their works in either TIFF or EPS format or do I as the designer have to source my own images for the booklet.

- Are the images high resolution.

- Are they supplying the body copy type on themselves and the works or do I as the designer have to write the information about the client and works myself. If so do they know this will be more of a cost.

- How many briefs/reviews on the booklet they want and coming to a reasonable conclusion to suit us both.

- How soon they need the booklet to be published for the exhibition.

- Do they have a printed they use for running this booklet or will I have to source my own. If so what is their price range so I can work according to the budget.

2. What could you do to avoid wasting your time on a design that the client doesn’t like?

To avoid wasting time, I would draw up sketches of what I have in mind for the design of the promotional booklet and show them to the client and from there the one they liked the most I would go ahead with. I would arrange review meetings every week or so to show the client to let them decide on what they like and what they don’t and any changes they would like. These meetings would be limited as the client my never make a final decision, so under the design process I would draw up a contract and together decide on how many design reviews would be suitable and that way they know that by so many reviews they have to make their final decision.

3. What kind of research should you do prior to commencing the design and where will you obtain the content form?

Prior to commencing the design of the promotional booklet researching the artist and their style is an important part of the design process. It gives you as the designer a better feel and knowledge of what that artists style is and can design a promotional booklet for them according to that specific style. It is important to also know background knowledge of the client, as it helps you as a designer to communicate with the client better. Obtaining the content form would either comes straight from the artist themselves if they wanted to add a personal touch to the booklet or it would have to be obtained by the designer themselves. If that was the case writing the content form would be more difficult as there would have to be many more proofs and copies sent to the client in case information was inaccurate or irrelivatent.

4. Can you offer any suggestions to your client about ways to improve on the brief?

The brief was informative and well structured I didn’t have any cases where I found the brief difficult to understand or any instances where information was misscommunicated.

5. Can you think of any limitations you might face during this project?

There was definently a limitation to the options when it came to printing and the styles and stock that could be used when dealing with online printers. For the sake of not wasting printers time with quotes that would only be used in this project, I was limited to just a quick quote from them online with basic information about stock and the overall design of the booklet. That proved to be difficult and changes had to be made to my overall look of the final product.

6. What are your options in setting the document up in Indesign?

I set my document up in indesign as:

- A3 spread (A4 pages)

- 3mm bleed

- 5mm slug

- Facing pages

- Margins: 12mm x12mm

7. How will you need to save the final print-ready version to send to the printer? What problems could arise during this stage of the process?

For CMYK Online Printers they prefer the document to not be in spreads but as a “1 Up” multiple page file and preferred as a PDF, with the front cover as page 1 and the back cover to be the final page. With the external bleed to be 5mm. Problems that may arise during this stage of the process is that I’m not very familiar with pagination and it may be printed in the wrong order with spreads not matching up. When sending to the printer, I have checked that all my photos are in TIFF format and CMYK but there still may be issues when it goes to press with colours and the way the document has been set up. The file could become corrupted during the sending online of the file, this could prove to be difficult if images or content has been changed or lost.

The Australian Trade Printers didn’t have specific setups for the final press ready version, if this wasn’t just a project I would ring the company to double check the set up they prefer, but in this case I have set it up in a packaged PDF format with all images checked in CMYK, with the standard 3mm bleed and in spreads without pagination as most modern printers/printing machines could do that automatically.

Printing Quotes for the Artist Promotional Booklet

Australian Trade Printers

www.australiantradeprinters.com.au

- A4 pages, Portrait

- 8pp, 150 gsm gloss

- Saddle Stitched

- 1000 copies

Quote: $930.00

Free delivery

CMYK Colour Online

www.cmyk.com.au

- A4 pages, Portrait

- 8pp, 150gsm gloss

- Saddle stitched

- 1000 copies

Quote: $894.00

Delivery included

Supplied templates

I have chosen to go with this company because they were very competitive with their prices and they offered the cheapest quote online that I could find with the quality and extras that they offer. They were one of the only companies who offer preferred templates and decent options for stock and printing. Thye have good reviews on their website and seem like a reliable and professional company.