Book cover designs - studio brief 2 (OUGD406)

These designs were created around the idea of creating abstract patterns from type. I used the letters L & M for the last names of the authors as a homage to them as in current day they are extremely well known in graphic design and writing. 

This design was using the letter L to create a repeat pattern. I decided to use the type box from the modernist type design I previously did as I think the professional and clean look was really effective in showing the formality of the books content but it needed some background imagery to make it more interesting looking.

Next pattern was using the letter M, I do like the pattern created but it looks a little cramped and overfull and pulls the eye away from the information too much.

Next I decided to create a circular pattern instead of repeat. I think so far this is the most attractive design as theres lots of white space so its not over cramped and your eye is still drawn to the key information. The type in the middle is most abstract and the letters become more readable towards the outside, this could represent the idea of this book opening up your mind to new graphic design inspiration and your understanding of things becoming more clear.

My next design was inspired by Jessica Hische's drop cap designs as I have created my capitals cut out from one of my patterns.

I also experimented with composition but I preferred the type at the bottom as it makes the drop caps stand out more than the other information.

These are a variation of the drop cap design but with the pattern as a background, I don't think these are effective as the pattern is too busy and in your face.

This is a minimal design using lots of white space and one of the none phonetic symbols included in the book. I really like this design as minimal is quite appealing to me but I think a different design could take advantage of the interesting effects screen printing creates better.

I did this variation of the design where I could overlay two colours and take advantage of the screen printing outcome better.

This next one is using a different non phonetic symbol from the book with a different layout. I changed the tracking on each word to span the page and look really bold. 

This next one was informed by the original design where the writing doesn't read in the right order, I think this relates to the idea they wanted to break rules on the cover to make it different and possibly more appealing to post-modern designers. I tried to make this more effective by splitting it into two colours. Also once again taking advantage of overlapping screens.

http://weavesilk.com/

These designs were created using an online radial pattern creator, I liked this because the designs looked like brain scans/brain waves which is quite relevant to the books content. I added type that interacted with the pattern. I think this is really relevant design idea as it looks like an informational book but still interesting. Unfortunately i'm unsure about how such a detailed image would screen print.

This next design is a variation of the previous type pattern but I made it out of outlined type to make the design more intricate and look like brain waves slightly which I think is pretty effective, I can then overlay the other information.

The idea behind this design was that it looks like smudged biro ink, which is related to the essay writing theme.

This next design was taking the title of the book quite literally by using an image of a hand writing. I looked at my research and I loved the idea of using halftone to create tone in the image and really take advantage of the screen printing effects. I prefer the top design as the hand on its side is less unclear of what's actually going on in the image. I stayed with the modernist style type style as its academic and used Helvetica as its comfortable and appropriate for a book about graphic design.

These 3 designs were my favourites so I decided to do an online crit to get the class' opinions on which was the best.

The majority liked the orange design most, I have to agree as its the most informed design and the thin lines and contrasting colour is really effective. One comment said it could be improved by having the inside of the writing completely white rather than being able to see the pattern to increase legibility which I agree is a good idea.

In preparation for screen printing the design I split the colours and made negatives for each part.  

The other requirement of this brief was to design and digitally print a dust cover for the book. I created a box similar to the one on the front and left aligned the books description. I set the type using modernist design principles and went through each paragraph moving words down to create a clean and neat rag and avoiding orphans.