Sweet Surreal - Birthday/Blank Greeting Card Range
Published greeting card range developed in collaboration with Tache Ltd. 'Sweet Surreal' presents on-trend (2018) animals and objects in surrealist combinations, delivered in a cotton candy palette. Featured at the NEC Spring Fair and sold in John Lewis.
Brief: Develop a nine card range within the Birthday/Blank categories. The subjects must be on-trend and in line with Tache branding.
Brief: Develop a nine card range within the Birthday/Blank categories. The subjects must be on-trend and in line with Tache branding.
Research: 1.During 2018, flamingos and Frenchies were major trends, as well as pineapples and cats remaining long standing popular themes.
Project Strategy:
Project Strategy:
1.Moodboard existing greeting card designs that feature cute, humorous and on-trend subjects.
2.Develop initial sketches.
3. Select nine concepts that best answer the key deliverables.
4.Consider a base colour palette and font that tie the varied themes together.
5.Research and develop relevant captions.
6.Execute the illustrations with feedback from the Art Directors.
Finishing considerations: Each illustration required a custom die-cut to create the raised topper/attachment. This meant the thinnest point of the designs could be no less than a 4pt stroke to prevent print breakages.
Book Cover Design - Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Mocked-up as Penguin.
Brief: Design a modern and atmospheric cover of Charlotte Bronte's 'Jane Eyre'. Use the quote, "As if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs, tightly knotted to a similar string in you..." as the foundations for the design.
Research:
1.Jane Eyre is set in the North of England during the late 1700's and tells the story of the title character.
2.High contrast photography is a technique used to create drama and invoke strong feelings.
3.The colour blue has connotations of freedom and honesty as well as depression and fragility.
4.Script fonts lend a personal and elegant quality to text.
Project Strategy:
Project Strategy:
1.Read Jane Eyre for the full narrative context.
2.Map out the design elements to view the available design space - barcode, publishing logo, title, author and blurb.
3.Begin the initial sketches based on the quote reference.
4.Select the concept best suited to the key deliverables.
5.Develop the colour palette.
6.Consider potential font pairings.
7.Block in flat colours and begin to build textures.
8.Layout and type set the title, author and blurb.
9.Contextualise the designs in 3D mockup form.
Finishing considerations: The cage, bird and title are envisioned with an embossed finished to elevate the value and impact of the design, as well as providing a tactile quality that encourages customers to pick the book up.
Series of Book Cover Designs - Daphne du Maurier
Mocked-up as Penguin.
Brief: Develop a series of book covers for five of Daphne du Maurier's most famous novels. Use the covers to summarise the dark and dramatic themes within the works.
Research:
1.Frenchman's Creek, an adventure story exploring the themes of roles, freedom, love and responsibility.
2.My Cousin Rachel, a mystery/romance evolving around jealousy and possession.
3.The Birds, a horror inspired by World War themes that depicts desperation in the face of the unknown.
4. Jamaica Inn, a coming of age story featuring danger, adventure and romance. 5.Rebecca, a gothic mystery/romance novel revolving around the theme of secrets.
Project Strategy:
Project Strategy:
1.Read the five novels and annotate interesting visual imagery.
2.Map out the design elements to view the available design space - barcode, publishing logo, title, author and blurb.
3.Begin initial sketches based on the visual imagery.
4.Select the concepts that best summarise the plot/main themes of each novel. 5.Consider the common thread between du Maurier's works and how that can be used to present the five novels as a series.
6.Develop the colour palette.
7.Consider potential font pairings.
8.Block in flat colours and begin to build textures.
9.Layout and type set the title, author and blurb.
10.Contextualise the designs in 3D mockup form
Finishing considerations: The covers are imagined with spot UV detailing to emphasise the illustration highlights - the broken glass, sea, plant whites, snake scales and wing tips.
Book Cover Design - The Birds by Daphne du Maurier
Mocked-up as Penguin.
Brief: This design stemmed from the development process of the five book series above. This sketch stood out in particular as a concept worthy of a standalone cover. It leans into du Maurier's descriptions of chaos and fire, and acts as the foundation for the smokey backgrounds in the final series. Alternative colour variants show the development of the colour palette and how each colour changes the atmosphere of the scene.
Mocked-up as Penguin.
Brief: This design stemmed from the development process of the five book series above. This sketch stood out in particular as a concept worthy of a standalone cover. It leans into du Maurier's descriptions of chaos and fire, and acts as the foundation for the smokey backgrounds in the final series. Alternative colour variants show the development of the colour palette and how each colour changes the atmosphere of the scene.
Book Cover Design - Flower Nymph series by Rachel Sawyer
Self published Amazon book and E-book by author June Okochi
Brief: This book cover series was developed from a university project on illustrated wordless narratives. This narrative featured an 'ugly duckling' young woman in a miniature world where drought had left the land barren but for a single drop of water. From this surviving drop of water, a luscious world of hybrid flowers springs into life. We follow the journey of the 'ugly duckling' as she discovers the water, the flowers and their resident nymphs, of which she later transforms into too. The individual nymph illustrations were later reworked into book cover designs with coordinating titles.
Research:
Research:
1.The movie The Secret World of Arrietty by Studio Ghibli provided the majority of inspiration for this worldless narrative, informing the scale and styling of the 'ugly duckling' as well as the miniature world building.
2. Cinematic theory informed the composition of each illustration.
Project Strategy:
1.Write a short narrative based on the idea of transformation.
2.Break this narrative down into key scenes.
3.Research different camera angles and the way they are used to tell a story.
4.Produce studies of flowers, objects, women and scenery to build an understanding on how to execute these forms.
5.Create a finalised story board.
6.Develop a colour palette.
7.Block in flat colours and begin to build textures.
8.Present the finished narrative as its own perfect bound book.
9. Later rework the nymph illustrations into book covers by creating a standardised background and titling the series around nature and flowers.
9. Later rework the nymph illustrations into book covers by creating a standardised background and titling the series around nature and flowers.
Finishing considerations: The covers are imagined with a silk print finish to provide a pleasant textural experience.
Book Cover Design & Internal Illustrations - Days of Desire by June Okochi
Brief: Design the book cover and internal illustrations for the anthology, Days of Desire, but June Okochi. Using June's poetry as the inspiration for the designs where the themes of love, lust, infatuation and pain are visually portrayed. Develop the format of the publication for both physical printing and Ebook on Amazon. The goal is to absorb the reader in June's experiences of the above themes.
Research:
Research:
1.Existing themes on love, lust, infatuation and pain to filter out both good and cliché representations.
2.Existing anthologies and the layout of poetry with illustration.
3.Human anatomy to understand how to illustrate these forms.
4.June's previous work and her preferred design styling.
Project Strategy:
Internal Illustrations:
1.Read the curated selection of June's poetry and annotate where visual metaphors or interesting objects spark illustrative ideas.
2. Develop thumbnail sketches from these ideas and return to June for feedback/approval.
3. Gather reference imagery to base the illustrations off, using June as a model where possible. This will add authenticity to the designs whilst also encouraging the reader to better connect with the words and imagery.
4.Create finalised sketches from the initial thumbnails.
5.Define the colour palette and illustrative styling, such as high contrast and glowing edges. The drama and intensity of the colours will reflect the environment described to the reader in June's poetry.
6.Work methodically through each sketch by blocking in flat colours and building textures and glow.
7. Place the illustrations and corresponding poems together before sending to June for another round of feedback.
8.Implement any feedback such as changes of colour or composition before signing off on the internal illustrations.
Book Cover:
1.Map out the design elements to view the available design space - barcode, title, author and blurb.
2.Whilst developing the finalised sketches, consider which artwork would best summarise the title and main themes. With input from June, rework the chosen sketch from an internal illustration to also fit the dimensions of the book cover spread.
3.Consider font pairings and weights.
4.Artwork designs and present as 3D mockups for final round of feedback.
5.Make the amends and list on Amazon.
Finishing considerations: Leave wider bleed margins than usual to allow for discrepancies in Amazon's cutting.
Book Cover and Internal Illustrations - The Parts of the Pure Stone by Emilie Dufresne
Published by Booklife Publishing.
Brief: Illustrate the internal pages for the provided children's story, The Parts of the Pure Stone. To ensure the copy and illustrations work in harmony with one another, produce a full storyboard for approval by the Booklife design team before proceeding. Pay particular attention to the the character, scenery and object descriptions. One of the illustrations will also serve as the book cover, so bare this in mind when developing the storyboard. Work within the provided dimensions. The project will be artworked by the design team upon delivery of the artwork.
Story Summary: The Parts of the Pure Stone follows the adventure of an unlikely fellowship to restore peace in the Blue Lands by uniting the two parts of the Pure Stone.
Research:
1.Use existing adventure stories and their movie adaptions to understand the frames used to present a dynamic story, such as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
2. Look into existing character designs for elves, dragons, wizards etc. to inform the design of the fellowship.
3.Moodboard illustrated maps as information for the open spread.
4.Look at the existing catalogue of Booklife books to established a suitable illustration style in line with their brand.
Project Strategy:
1.Read the story and make notes on key character, scenery and object descriptions.
2.Based on these notes, develop character concepts for the wizard, ogre, elf dwarf and dragon.
3.Thumbnail initial sketches for the storyboard using the movie frame research to inform the choice of angles. This will aid in propelling the story forward, indicating power dynamics and adding variation to the illustrations. At this point, begin considering which page provides the most impact and intrigue. This will be the cover illustration.
4.Finalise the story board sketches with the provided dimensions and send back to the Booklife design team for approval.
5.After feedback and approval, define the colour palette of the characters by considering how they will stand out against the background scenery.
6.Block in flat colours and begin building the textures. Use glowing textures to add a magical quality to key narrative objects, such as the Blue Land map and Pure Stone.
7.Upon completion, send off for the final round of feedback and approval.
Self written and illustrated children's book 'The Great Slot Machine'. A fantastical adventure through the world of the Lomniri Cloud, where every creature was created by chance...
Featuring a sample of initial sketches, character development, internal spreads and the book cover design.
Featuring a sample of initial sketches, character development, internal spreads and the book cover design.
Non-Fiction Book Cover Design - Bloom by Tyler Rees
Brief: This design sits within a series of jellyfish illustrations stemming from a university project exploring luminous Procreate brushes. As one of my favourite pieces in the set, I have displayed it in 3D context. Using a fictitious author and an on-theme title, I envision this small mock-up as a non-fiction encyclopedia displaying various jellyfish.
Prospective designs mocked up as Wildlife magazine. This series comments on the increased urban residency of wildlife due to habitat destruction and urban sprawl.
Prospective designs mocked up as Nature magazine. This series was developed around the themes of landscapes and well being.
Published magazine cover design for Arktic Lime collective on the theme of Wildlife.
Published magazine cover design for Arktic Lime collective on the theme of Summer.
Editorial design commenting on planting hope for the future post-pandemic.
G2 Mockup.
G2 Mockup.
Editorial design commenting on global warming effects created by humanity.
G2 Mockup.
G2 Mockup.
