Secret 7

I decided to do Secret7 as a small brief (and a bit of a last minute one) because I was really eager to have a go at designing some vinyl sleeves, as I've not done anything like this before. The process of listening to music and visually recording your experience is really personal and intricate.

I chose to design covers for 5 out of the 7 tracks.

Brief Breakdown

What is the problem?

Secret 7” takes 7 tracks from 7 of the best-known musicians around and presses each one 100 times to 7” vinyl. We then invite creatives from around the world to interpret the tracks in their own style for every 7”. 700 sleeves are exhibited and then sold for £50 apiece. You don’t know who created the sleeve, or even which song it’s for, until you have parted with your cash - the secret lies within. 

Create however many vinyl sleeve covers for the following tracks:

• 'Clearest Blue'-Chvrches
• 'At Last!'-Etta James
• 'Worry'-Jack Garrett
• 'The Less I Know the Better'-Tame Impala
• 'Imagine'-John Lennon
• 'Art School'-The Jam
• 'Dream 3'-Max Ritcher

The artwork cannot contain the name of the song or the artist, and HAS to be a secret.

How will I aim to solve it?

I will listen to each of the tracks and create a visual response suitable for the theme, era, and genre of the track. This will be informed by a researching existing album artwork to gain inspiration and a sense of direction in which my work will take.

What will I be aiming to communicate?

'Don't judge a track by the cover'. I hope to use symbolic themes to set the tone, and maybe give the listener a clue about the theme of the track, as well as express my own personal interpretation.

Who is my audience?

Avid collectors of exclusive vinyl sleeves, music fans, the general public!

Themes and Processes

Colour Scheme

I have decided to challenge myself by setting a tight colour scheme consisting of four colours which include navy, light pink, powder blue and pastel yellow. Due to my struggle with using colour I thought that working to a restriction may further inform the way I use colour and force me to use my imagination in different ways.

Birds

Restricting myself further, I chose to base all of my designs around the symbolism of birds (which may sound really obscure) but different types of birds symbolise so many things. For example the symbol of a dove represents peace, an owl symbolises wisdom and so on.

Illustrator

Sometimes I feel that I choose to use digital processes as a bit of an 'easy way out' because the whole process is quicker and can have a more efficient finish a lot of the time. However at the same time I do want to keep learning new techniques and processes in photoshop and illustrator, as opposed to just doing the bare minimum and passing it as ok.

Chvrches-'Clearest Blue'

Concept

Swallows are the bird of travel, which relates to the lyrics 'meet me halfway'. When I listened to the song the first time, I thought of a beautiful mountain scene at sunset (I have no idea why) so I put two and two together and designed two swallows meeting at their halfway mountain.

Process

I have wanted to learn how to use textures in illustrator for such a long time, and I found a really handy tutorial to show me how: http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/tutorials/adobe-illustrator/texture-techniques-for-vector-artwork/#4 
It took me a while to master clipping masks but I eventually got it, and was able to create the snowy textures for the mountain which made it look more realistic. Other than that, it was just a case of tracing out the design I had drawn out in my sketchbook, and refining the extra details.

Reflection

I am really pleased with the outcome of this record sleeve considering it is the first one I have ever done! Although it slightly looks like my 504 work, I believe I have done a good job. 

Etta James-'At Last!'

Concept

'At Last!' is such a powerful song so I really wanted my artwork to reflect that. Etta James was a beautiful and graceful lady, which instantly made me think of a swan. Also, the rhythm of the song is soft and smooth, similar to that of the water that they swim on. Similar to 'clearest blue', the song is about meeting a loved one, therefore the main focus of the image will be on a pair of swans all loved up swimming into the distance (how cringey).

Process


I had such a nightmare with the process of this record sleeve! I knew what I wanted to draw out, but it just wasn't getting across in the best way. I tried out about three different designs in the end, and was happiest with the birds-eye view of the swans swimming away and the ripples that they left in the water. But this was still a problem as I couldn't seem to make the ripples look like ripples?! I tried out loads of different textured brushes on illustrator, and somehow accidentally found a way of cutting out the top layer and revealing the array of brush strokes underneath, which I thought looked really effective! Yay for happy accidents!

Reflection

In hindsight I could have possibly interpreted more of a sixties theme into the imagery to make it more true to its roots, but after much trial and tribulation I was happy with the final composition, especially discovering new ways to create effective textures.

John Lennon-'Imagine'

Concept

This famous song by legendary Beatle John Lennon amplifies the beauty of peace, creating the vision of world peace. I wanted to create a powerful and simple image of someone releasing a dove, the symbol of peace.

Process


Again using textured brushes, and clipping masks and tracing over the drawings in my sketchbook.

Reflection

I think the fact that I am forcing myself to use ALL of the colours within my chosen colour palette is good in some ways, but looking at my finished image in hindsight, I am not so sure about the yellow of the hands? Maybe even the dove on its own would have worked more effectively? Never mind, I believe the concept answers the brief very accurately.

Jack Garrett-'Worry'

Concept

Lone magpies are the leading cause of superstition following the 'one for sorrow' rhyme, and we are all guilty of worrying that something bad will happen if we see a magpie flying alone. The lyrics speak 'pick apart the pieces you left', which I took and created a magpie from broken pieces of glass. 

Process


The process was a little more delicate this time, as I had to make the shards of glass look three dimensional which was a really intricate task. (I also whipped out the old chestnut that is the trusty gradient)

Reflection

I think that this is my strongest concept from all of the record sleeves I have designed. Although I am beginning to think, 'would someone buy this?' I think I am getting a little carried away with the bird theme, and branching off from the principle of the brief. Nevertheless I am happy with the design!

The Jam-'Art School'

Concept

The rooster is one of the most confident and boisterous birds, symbolic to the theme of teenage schoolboys in this song. In relation to the pop art movement in the seventies at the time 'Art School' was released, I drew out the rooster in a colourful Andy Warhol style format.
 Process


This ~accidentally~ only took me about five minutes to complete, as I was testing out continuous line drawings on the wacom tablet when I discovered that I actually liked the little scribble of a rooster I had just drawn, and decided to repeat it four times in the different tiles.

Reflection

This design is effective in accordance to its theme and time period, and represents the vibrant and upbeat rhythm really accurately.

Evaluation

I'm glad I decided to enter secret7, as it has introduced me to the skill of interpreting music visually which I haven't had much experience in before. I think it was a good exercise for me to challenge myself in terms of using restricted themes and colour palettes, but in some ways this restricted me a little too much in the fact that if I would have had more freedom, I could have created some more powerful images. Nevertheless I rose to my personal challenge well and have taken the skills I have developed on board to use in future briefs.

Imagining from an external perspective, personally I would only buy the first record sleeve I designed (clearest blue) as this is the most in keeping of the contemporary market today. However, everyone has different tastes in music, and different tastes in art too so I guess I would need to carry out a wider depth of research in future briefs similar to these to gain a more accurate concept of what the audience wants. I will definitely enter this competition next year, and hopefully go down to the exhibition in the upcoming months!

Design Bridge: Week 3

Survey Results

Reflecting on a range of opinions, we have decided to emphasise on our main values that were supported and approved by the people that took part. So we have narrowed down and refined our product proposal:

• Product name: 'Taboo'. "Taboo is considered as the unspeakable and uncomfortable, however today there are so many different people within society, we should celebrate taboo. Nothing is wrong.
• Three products; SCRUB, MOISTURISER, MASK
• Three colours; Turquoise, Orange, Yellow with black and white packaging
• Environmentally friendly and ethical; re-fillable jars, packaging that can be recycled and no animal testing involved
• Mass marketed to ALL GENDERS

Shopping for prototypes

We went on a shopping trip to hunt for suitable containers to create physical mockups for our products. After about a three-mile round trip through around Leeds, we eventually decided on three 'mason-jar' glass containers bought from Class Ohlson. Mason jars are currently really trendy, and would fit in with our 're-fill' policy as they are hard-wearing, sustainable and aesthetically pleasing as a bonus.

Design process

Amber and I have been busy designing some tiled leaf patterns and have come up with a few designs to put forward for discussion, as well as Rowan and Tom producing some logo designs. At the moment we are thinking about producing three boxes for our products with the tiled pattern inside, and a simplistic logo for the outside.

Reflection/Productivity Plan

This week has been really exciting! Everything is coming together really well, although there is still a lot to do we are at a good stage in the whole process. The next few weeks will just be a matter of continuing to refine our designs and logos as well as producing the final products and mockups. 

For next week, we aim to:

• Produce digital patterns
• Start producing mock-ups
• Book print and photography slots 
• Continue working hard!

Crofton Academy Visit

Today as part of my student ambassador role I was given the opportunity to be part of the 'Flood a School' educational programme. On the itinerary it stated that we would be shadowing art and design teachers for the day, but when we arrived, we were assisting a year nine careers day - which was initially disappointing but it was actually quite a useful day!-

The year nine pupils had a whole day off-timetable to partake in a series of classroom based tasks that would inform them about GCSE options to take, and routes into their desired careers. It was really interesting to hear what the kids wanted to do in the future, what they are interested in and what the steps they plan to take to achieve their potential.

The activities of the day included:

• Introduction to different job sectors
• How advances in technology could help create jobs in the future that they
• Identifying individual strengths and weaknesses 
• Which subjects would relate to specific careers
• Identifying different personality types and different learning styles

What I gained from today:

Today was a perfect example of how essential topics are delivered in a classroom format, which has really helped me gauge the target age range, and methods of teaching required to make pupils aware of essential life skills. The students needed to know everything they were taught today, yet by the end of the day they were getting fed up and irritable. This was partly because they were sat in the same, stuffy classroom all day, and were just handed out sheet after sheet of dull white A4 to fill out. 

I believe today would have been much more successful if:

• The students were in an alternative environment to a classroom, maybe working all together as a year group rather than as separate classes
• There was more interesting visual stimuli/activities rather than just plain paper
• There was more general enthusiasm

OUIL505 Project Proposal

Here is my proposal: I know that it is going to be very difficult to stick to the timetable I have set out, too a tee due to the upcoming demanding deadlines for Responsive (but I will try my best)

I have given myself realistic targets and deadlines to aim towards taking this into consideration; it also helps having the Easter break to crack on with some work- as I won't be working at the bakery yay!! So more time to sit in my bedroom and do shit loads of drawing.

Also, I am proposing that I may make changes along the way to the proposal if my ideas are altered or I want to take my project in a different direction than intended. So therefore I will make regular updates.

Illustration Friday: Hat

Initial Ideas

• Tophat
• The man who mistook his wife for a hat
• Cat in a hat
• Magicians hat
• Indian hat
• Uniform hats
• Head dress
• Flat cap
• Hat blowing away
• Posh hat
• Wooly hat

Thumbnails


Hat is such a broad theme that can be applied to any context supposedly. I developed my strongest four ideas which were, 'fat cat in a hat', 'hat blowing away', 'oversized hat', and 'magicians hat'. I would have liked to have spent a longer amount of time developing a more complex image for example the magicians hat and the rabbit, yet I was so worried about the deadlines for my other responsive briefs not being completed that I tried to complete this weeks response as quickly as possible.

Reference Imagery

As I was rushing, I din't use any reference imagery (which may be considered a good or a bad thing?)This encouraged me to use my imagination to a higher level- which I suppose I should be doing more often with the more practice I do.

Process

Admittedly, I've kind of been losing interest a little in these last  few weeks of illustration Friday, so I have become rather complacent on the development of my digital skills. As well, due to shortage of time, I couldn't experiment to my full capacity, so I utilised the skills with photoshop brushes I have gained over the past weeks to unite with the concept of 'fat cat in a hat' to create this light hearted response.

Evaluation

My response is mediocre I guess. Like I said earlier, towards the end of this ten weeks I started to run out of steam alongside worrying about the other briefs I have to complete for responsive. In hindsight, I wouldn't have been able to create a digital painting to this standard ten weeks ago, so that is an achievement for me. Again, the concepts seem to be my strongest points of my image making process; I still need to work on my visual application skills to match these, ultimately making the outcome more successful and effective.

Decision Making and Questionnaire

Project Direction

At the moment I am thinking of producing a creative workshop pack  for schools to encourage the teaching of subjects that aren't focused on enough. School teaches children almost everything under the sun, yet it still seems to skim over, or completely miss out some crucial areas. 

These include:

• Sex education; more about relationships in general
• Money management e.g. how mortgages work
• Politics and how the country is run
• Mental health
• Cultural diversity
• and many more...

Some of these topics are touched on, but students don't be seeming to be gaining a full understanding of things they may have to face in the future. Being taught out of a textbook about real situations and issues such as these will not be as memorable therefore practiced as much as if there were a more fun and interactive option available.

Questionnaire

I asked for peoples opinions on what topics they thought should be more heavily emphasised in schools, or be an essential part of the curriculum.

The results were quite diverse, but seemed to fall under categories relating to personal development and awareness. Some of the things that people mentioned were:

• Finances, how to do taxes
• How to cook balanced meals
• Self defence
• How to vote
• Proper understanding of mental illness
• The meat and dairy industry

Chat with Matt

I asked tutor Matt about what he thought should be taught more in the curriculum, and his answer was so interesting. He said that they should replace fine art qualifications at secondary school with 'Visual Literacy', which would be solving problems through visual means as opposed to painting and drawing with no constructed purpose (no offence aimed at fine art degree because that is a lot different to GCSE and A-Level!)

I thought Matt's opinion was fascinating, and really relevant to my topic especially as it could be possible to intertwine some of the subject areas mentioned above within a creative problem solving subject.

However, I have found that this exercise has somewhat broadened the horizon in terms of this project rather than narrow down the ideas and the direction of where I am going to go with it, so naturally I feel pretty stuck. I think over the next few days I am going to let all of this information mull over and try and find a positive solution to take forward. Also, I will take one of the subject areas listed above and start jotting some ideas down for lesson plans and relevant learning activities.

Design Bridge: Week 2

Group Meeting

Today was our second meeting as a group, and we bought to the table all of our research that we had carried out in the week and discussed potential ideas. This process was fairly up in the air as it is only the second week that we have met, so naturally our ideas were not very concentrated at this stage.

To concentrate our ideas further, we decided to produce a survey to gain more accurate opinions and desires of our target market, which was pretty straight forward as the product will be targeted at a mass market. But in particular we devised questions in relation to the key principles of our brand; e.g. questions that touch on the subject of gender identity, ethical views, interests etc. in the hope of producing the most accurate and honest results.

We came up with 8 questions and posted it as an online survey via survey monkey, which is an easily accessible and isn't too complicated. (link is here https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/NT5FPD3)

Survey Questions:

1. What is your gender?

2. What is your age? 
-Younger than 16
-16-18
-19-25
-26-40
-41+

3. Would you be more likely to buy a product that has not been tested on animals?

4. Would you pay more for packaging made from recycled materials?
-yes
-no

5. How much does packaging influence your choice to buy a product?

6. How many products do you use in your skin care regime?
-0
-1
-2
-3
-4 or more

What products do you use? (moisturiser, scrub etc)

7. Choose three colours that you think would be suitable for gender neutral/gender inclusive packaging:
-black
-orange
-green
-white
-turquoise
-yellow
-purple
-blue
-other: please specify:

8. What's your favourite scent?

We aim to evaluate the results from the survey in a weeks time to gain a sense of direction in terms of our packaging design.

Further Progress

Refining the brand name 'Taboo' and how it can relate to our products:

• Taboos in the beauty industry
• Body image
• Gender neutralisation
• Eradicating gender stereotypes
• Element of surprise/,mystery?

How could this be applied through imagery?:

When you think of the word 'taboo', all things cheeky/naughty come to mind e.g. being young and sniggering at naked statues etc. I then thought of the idea of Adam and Eve being naked having only just been created, with only a single leaf acting as a shield and symbol of modesty. 

When a baby is first born, they all look the same; bald, ugly and covered in slime apart from their genitals, which is the only thing that is used to define their gender. This principle is similar in the story of creation, yet the leaf is used as a symbol of modesty, dignity and conceals the certainty of their gender (although we all make assumptions that Eve is a woman because she has long hair and boobs, and Adam is a man because he has short hair and a beard).

ANYWAY. We wanted to take the leaf and use it as a symbol to represent the following values:

• It is NATURAL: humans are natural, nature is natural and we want our products to contain natural ingredients in respect of our environment
• People are initially gender defined the second they are born due to which genital organs they have. Using a leaf to cover said parts eliminates initial judgements, making it more comfortable for people who have alternative genders to feel more accepted.

Productivity Plan

• Continue developing visual and conceptual ideas: also think what we want our product to look like e.g. types of bottles and packaging etc
• Rowan and Tom work on a logo
• Amber and I work on pattern designs
• Next time, reflect on survey results to develop product ideas

Product, Range, Distribution

In groups, we came up with  different products, ranges and distribution methods which can be applied to each starting point category. My group were given Children's Book and Education.

Children's Book and Education:

Product:

• Educational illustration
• Puzzles
• The magic key (educational reading)
• Educational apps and websites
• Puppets/toys with narrative
• Touch and feel books
• Pop up books 
• Activity books
• Adventure books
• Fables/morals
• Cartoons

Range:

• Anniversary editions
• Limited editions
• Merchandise
• Book types (pop up etc)
• Text books
• Cereal boxes
• Vouchers
• Travel books

Distribution:

• Book shops/fares
• Schools
• Museums
• Internet
• Libraries
• Conventions
• Art shops
• Educational video games/dvds

We then walked around the room to see what the other groups had written down for the opposing categories. The lists were endless, and so broad that you could literally do anything you wanted ~within reason~

The task was really useful and informative, but also slightly overwhelming at the same time. Between now and the next session, I will continue to look at the sheets of A2 around the room of potential combinations of themes to try and develop a personal starting point.

Further Exploration/Study Task 1

Researching Practitioners: Children's Book and Education

Mark Hearld

Practice

• Mixed media image maker, uses predominantly hand-rendered methods
• Main inspirations include nature and the countryside; this has ben used in picture books that appeal to both children and adults
• Studied at Glasgow school of Art where he found his talent and passion for using collage
• "I suddenly found something that worked for me"-graphic quality and capacity to compose in a really strong way

Why am I inspired?

• The visual quality of Hearld's work is absolutely stunning, you can really gain a sense of reflection of his passion and interest in nature and environment through the attention to detail applied with a high level of skill
• It is really refreshing to see hand crafted skills being used in contemporary practice, as it is largely dominated with digital methods of image making
• With illustration being used in an educational context, it visually teaches children about the beauty of nature
• Powerful imagery discovered as a child stays with you for a very long time, which is really sentimental

Links to my practice

• I enjoy using mixed media (although I have been practicing digital methods more recently)
• I aspire to produce education/visually informative illustrations

Insipiration/Promotion

• Mick Manning: Tutor at Glasgow school or Art, really encouraged Hearld to study the great outdoors, he knew a lot about plants and animals
• John Morris-Wood: Tutor at Royal College London: Admirable in the field of English Mid 20th Century art and design

Both of these people were important as the were drawing things that Hearld was deeply interested in. video

Oliver Jeffers

Practice

• "Oliver Jeffers makes art"
• Very broad practice includes: figurative painting, instillation, illustration, picture book making and more
• His picture books are among the most recognisable and accessible on a global scale
• He has won many awards e.g. The New York Times Best Illustrated Book Award

Why am I inspired?

• Jeffers does NOT limit himself within the work that he produces; it is so expressive, charming, humorous and also has an educational element to it
• Uses traditional methods of image making; emphasises the importance of craft and communication within illustration
• He is such an interesting person! Amazing imagination and positive with an enthusiastic outlook on life- this really reflects in his imagery

Links to my practice

• Uses a range of media, but still has a distinctive tone of voice (which I am aiming to achieve)
• Likes experimenting and trying out new things
• Targets a large audience- not just children
• Interest in telling stories, both through images alone, and through picture books

Inspiration/Promotion

• Creatives such as Norman Rockwell, Maurice Sendak, Saul Steinberg, Ralph Steadman, Lucian Freud, Cy Twombly, Eduardo Recife, David Hockney etc.
• Create a disposable portfolio when starting out (like a promo pack)
• Website is essential; accessible and immediate means of showing work
• Ideal scenario: when the work you do for other people aims to promote you as well

Owen Davey

Practice

• Award winning illustrator living and working in the UK
• Graduated in 2009 from Falmouth University with a First Class Degree in Illustration
• Work has been published in every continent apart from Antarctica
• Primary illustrator for 'two dots' iPhone/tablet game which has been number one in over 70 countries
• Clients include: Facebook, Google, Flying Eye Books, NoBrow, Templar Publishing, BBC, New York Times, The Guardian and loads more
• He has an agent which is really helpful
• "It takes a while to build up a good client base so hang in there"
• "Thumbnails, concepts and composition are so important; I spend longer on these than I do on the finished piece"
• It is important to do LOADS of research

Why am I inspired?

• He has been successful very quickly after graduation due to hard work and determination with a positive approach to his practice
• Strong colour palettes and use of textures; also very distinctive style created by using vectors
• Appealing to a large audience; both children and adults
• Wide range of clientele; work can be applied across so many different platforms

Links to my practice:

• I aspire to build upon a tone of voice that appeals to a wide scale audience
• I love using vectors!
• He is pretty hot off the press in terms of graduation (I'm only 8 years behind him haha)
• His work has an educational element to it, for example his most recent book 'Mad about Monkeys'

Inspiration/Promotion:

• Make a simple and professional website; online presence is really important
• Work really hard and make lots of contacts, don't be afraid to get your work out there
• Biggest inspiration comes from mid century designers like Charley Harper who implemented a style called 'minimal realism'- so seeing shapes, textures and colour combinations as well as structures, rather than the subject as it exists as a whole

Charlotte Mei

Practice

• Recent graduate from Camberwell School of Art (2012)
• Specialises in handmade ceramics and illustrations
• Good list of clientele considering short time as a practicing professional: Converse, Penguin Books, The V&A Museum, i-D magazine etc

Why am I inspired?

• Mei shows what can be achieved from hard work and determination when entering the trade
• I love her versatility- doesn't have one set way of working
• Fun and playful tone of voice

Links to my Practice

• I am really keen on involving others within my practice via workshops and events
• Mei has been really successful with this already with her Clay Club, which is positive because it introduces versatile media that isn't commonly associated with illustration

Inspiration/Promotion

• Loves practitioners that make animation and cartoons e,g, anime/adventure time
• Akira-film
• "It makes your practice better if you let ideas come out of your head and do some self directed work from time to time"
• Ikegami Ryouchi and Kioke Kazu: Crying Freeman (book)- about a Japanese potter who has a run in with a Chinese mafia and becomes an assassin (combines her interest of pottery and criminology)
• Set up a creative with fellow graduates from Camberwell
• Online presence is important! A Studio Visit with Charlotte Mei from Joshua Whitelaw on Vimeo.
   

Blexbolex

Practice

• French comics artist and illustrator
• Studied screen printing (sénegraphic)at the School of Fine Arts in Angoulêne
• First works were self-published, then gradually publishers started to take him on board 
• He also has experience in directing art studios, as well as working regularly with a number of editors
• In 2009 he received a prize for "Best book design of the world" for his 'L'imager den gens' (2008)

Why am I inspired?

• Use of shapes and colour is BEAUTIFUL
• Simple yet strong tone of voice
• Use of language with imagery
• His work has a large target audience- not just aimed at one particular age group
• Emphasises and explores the potential within minimalism

Links to my practice

• Relates to my interest in producing picture books
• I am interested in his use and combination of language with image
• There is an education element within his picture books- particularly 'seasons', in the most stripped back form. This is a skill that I would like to capitalise on
• Methods of screen printing are used- beautiful overlaying of colours: I would like to use screen printing more frequently

Inspiration/promotion

• Uses a 'line claire' style (meaning clear line)
• Hergé: Belgian cartoonist known for creating 'The Adventures of Tintin'
• Inspired by the films if Jacques Tati and 'Whodunits' of the 50's and 60's
• His children's books became popular in the early 2000's and have been successful ever since; part of this success came from the audience he gained from the work produced from practitioners that he was inspired by

Summary:

Researching these five different practitioners in great depth has been really informative, especially finding out who they are inspired by and how their interests have shaped their practice and tone of voice. In particular, I am so interested in the elements of storytelling and teaching alongside and within their illustrative practice, it really shows a lot of scope how alternative methods of learning through creativity can be implemented, and I wish to explore this even further.

Plan of Action:

• Research into the National Curriculum
• Find out what people think should be taught in schools
• Write lesson plans and potential workshop structures based around given themes

Illustration Friday: Mystery

Initial Ideas

• The mystery machine
• Cluedo
• Detectives
• Inspectors
• Crime
• Pre-misconceptions
• Un-solved mystery
• Surprise
• Finding out something
• Mystery journey
• Keys
• Trap door
• Fantasy
• Ghosts

Thumbnails

I didn't try out as many options as hoped to, but I was quite confident with my loch ness monster concept. I found that mystery was a really broad theme, and it could be difficult for the audience  to interpret what the illustration is trying to say. I decided to add a little bit more character to Nessie by kitting her out with a traditional Scottish hat and bagpipe, which I hope will make my image more humorous.

Reference Imagery

I used reference imagery to sketch out the figure of the loch ness monster; but I wish I would have spent more time experimenting with her shape and form, and eventually creating my own interpretation. Although there wasn't a massive amount of images of Nessie as she is a mythical creature, and there are no real photographs of her.

Process

I used photoshop again this week; but I didn't spend as long as I'd hoped on the process due to having a lot of other deadlines coming up this week, so I feel like I haven't progressed an awful lot since SMART. Again, I used a layering technique starting with the shadowy areas gradually building the lighter areas to create a stronger sense of dimension. 

Evaluation

I think I've responded quite well to the theme of mystery, because the legend of the loch ness monster is something that a lot of people are familiar with and can relate to pretty well. Although I'm pleased with the outcome, I can't really see a massive improvement from the past few weeks, partly because I haven't pushed myself as much as I could have done due to pressures of other modules, leaving limited time to spend on tasks such as these. I do plan eventually to download and try out some of Kyle Webster's brushes, or even make my own brushes to develop my photoshop skills further; however on the plus side, I'm beginning to look at my work now and recognise that its 'mine', and I'm starting to develop a sort of tone of voice (I think/hope)! So from now on I need to capitalise on my strengths and push them forward more.

Emil and the Detectives: Refining Thumbnails

Sketchbook work

I decided to go back to basics with my thinking process with the story, as I had become too wrapped up in the cliche ideas that I thought would be successful.

I started by drawing maps of Berlin and looking closer into the value of the lines, as well as studying 1920's German buildings to get a sense of surrounding. This lead to studying the Berlin tube map, but I feel like I didn't get very far with this concept, so I left it be for a while. 
Changing direction, I began sketching out the most significant symbols and images from the story within 1920's photo frames, for example a photograph of Emil, his train ticket etc.

Eureka moment!

It suddenly came to me that if I applied the line work I had studied earlier with the photographs of key images, I could create something along the lines of a police evidence board with string and notes pinned to a board to try and solve the crime, which goes perfectly with the theme of the story!

I developed a few rough thumbnail sketches, which I plan to enhance digitally; because there are so many different potential elements to this cover this may take a while in terms of arrangement and layout etc.

Plan of Action

Now I just need to get cracking on vectorising my thumbnail sketches and developing them into a final book cover (scary but exciting!). I  am also pretty stuck for a colour scheme; I struggle with colour schemes anyway but this is particularly difficult as it is such an old book being market to a generation sixty years down the line. Nevertheless I am determined to create a striking cover for Emil and the Detectives, so experimentation and determination will hopefully pay off.