Final draft

Digital type choices

Colour schemes

Using this draft, I scanned it into photoshop and adjusted the threshold. This made the image pure black and white.


Monochromatic colour scheme

I then started to colour individual bits to my design.

Here is the end result. Within this monochromatic example I have used the colour green. I chose this colour to have relevance to my book as it is based by the riverbank and the woodlands. I think this colour scheme works really well, this is because my final design is going to be a cut out so very little colours will be used in my final piece but I will definitely be using the colour green.

Complementary colour scheme

I wanted to include the colour green within all my colour schemes because it is the colour that I believe has most relevance to my subject matter. Green and red are complementary colours so I decided to use these two colours for the complementary colour scheme. I used a mixture of warm and cool reds and also a mixture of warm and cool greens to balance it out. Overall I think that this colour scheme looked good apart from the red didn't have a big relevance to my subject matter.

Analogous colour scheme

For my analogous colour scheme I decided to use the colours green, blue and yellow. I thought these where a good choice of colour as they all have relevance to my subject matter. The yellow could represent the sun or bright yellow flowers, the blue represents the water in the rivers and pond and rain. And the green represents all the greenery you find in a woodland. However, I do think that three colours are too much for my design as I just want one simple colour used in my final piece.

Triadic colour scheme

The colours I used for my triadic colour scheme were green, yellow and orange. I thought these colours together looked awful and made my design look terrible. I would definitely not use this in my final piece because all the colours clash, and it isn't very easy on the eye.

Written analysis of Candyfloss by Jacqueline Wilson

Written analysis of A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket

Contrast, repetition, alignment and proximity analysis of A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket

This is another book that I looked at whilst doing my research..

A Series of Unfortunated Events:

Front cover

 The first thing that I chose to label was contrast. Number one shows the contrast between the bright yellow title and the dull black background. I labelled number two because of the contrast in the size of text. The authors name is a lot smaller than the book title which was different to what the design was on Candyfloss. Candyfloss had similar size text for the author and book title. Number three highlights the constrast between the red background and the black background. The red stands out quite a lot and adds variation as it would be very dull to have just black for the background. I labelled number four because of the bright orange/yellow background which is very eye-catching compared to the dark colour of the boys hair. Finally, I labelled number 5 because of the difference in colour of the two pieces of text, the contrast in size and the contrast in typefaces. 'BOOK THE SEVENTH' is in a serif typeface and 'The Vile Village' is in a script typeface.

 Next, I labelled proximity. All the pieces of text that are in close proximity should be read together. As you can see I have highlighted all the different pieces of text that are in close proximity and that your eyes would naturally 
read together.

I then labelled repetition. Number one shows the repetition of the colour yellow, this makes the colour scheme quite warm.
Number two shows the repetition of the dark browns and blacks that are used. This makes the colours such as: red, yellow and blue stand out a lot more. Number highlights the repetition of the colour red which is a bold colour.
Finally, number four shows the repetition of the blue/green colour which complements the red.

Finally, I labelled alignment. Numbers one and two show the alignment of the book title. Numbers three and four are the alignment of the illustration and the text 'A Vile Village'. Numbers five and six show the alignment of the authors name. Number seven is the centre alignment which goes straight through the middle of the illustration.






















Back cover

The first thing that I labelled on the back cover was alignment. Numbers one and two highlight the alignment of the blurb text which shows that it is also in line with the right side of the barcode. Number three is the centre alignment which goes straight down the middle of the blurb and authors name. Numbers four and five labelled because they show the alignment of the top and bottom of the blurb.

Next I labelled contrast. Number one highlights the contrast between the dark black background and the red spine. Number two also shows a contrast in colour however this time it is between the black and yellow. Number four shows the contrast between the mixture of upper case and lower case text and the all upper case text. It also shows the contrast of the two different typefaces, however, they are similar in some ways because they are both serif fonts. Finally, number five shows the contrast between the serif text and the script text. This adds interest on the back cover and make it contrasting instead of being all concording.

I then looked at proximity. All the pieces of text that are in close proximity should be read together. As you can see I have highlighted all the different pieces of text that are in close proximity and that your eyes would naturally 
read together.

Finally I looked at repetition. Number one shows the repetition of the serif typeface and number two shows the repetition of the colour black. There is also repetition of the colour red (spine and text at the bottom).

Spine

First I looked at proximity. It is simple to see what is in close proximity on a spine so I just labelled everything in close proximity so what should be read together.

Then I looked at alignment. The centre line goes through every single piece of text so the designer has thought carefully about this and was working on a grid.

I then looked at repetition. Here there is repetition of the colours yellow and the orange/red.

Finally I looked at contrast. I labelled the contrasts between the red text and the yellow text and also the fact that the contrast with the background. Also, the black text at the bottom of the spine contrast with the coloured text and the red background.

Contrast, repetition, alignment and proximity analysis of Candyfloss by Jacqueline Wilson

Earlier on in my research, I looked at a lot of already existing story books. To have relevance to the book I am designing I have chosen fiction books.

Candyfloss by Jaqueline Wilson:

Front cover

The first thing I chose to label was contrast. Number one looks at the constrast in size of the authors name and the subheading. Obviously the authors name is going to be one of the larger pieces of text because they want their name to be known. Number two looks at the contrast between the red and white decorative circles as they stand considering their size. Number three highlights the contrast between the characters pale face and her red cheeks, this gives a bit of variation and makes the illustration more interesting. Number four shows contrast between the colours as it is such a colourful front cover. Number five highlights the paleness of her hair compared to the bright orange background, this makes the character stand out more even though the surrounding illustrations are brighter than her. Number six shows the contrasts between the koala bear on her top, the actual koala bear is yellow and it's nose is purple, these are complementary colours also. Number seven shows two contrasts: differents in size and difference in typefaces. The 'Illustrated By' text is a sans serif font and the 'Nick Sharratt' text is serif. All the rest of the font on the front cover is sans serif apart from the illustrators name.

Next I looked at repetition. Number one shows that the gold decoration is used all over the front cover. It's used to outline and to fill text and shapes. Number two highlights the repetitiveness of the decorative circles. Number 3 shows the repetition of the colour pink, I think this is because the book is called Candyfloss and candyfloss is usually pink. And number four shows the repetition of the colour red. Although it is a bright and colourful there are lots of different colours going on, it actually works quite well and would be eyecatching to the target audience.

The third thing I looked at was alignment. Number 1 shows thetop and bottom alignment of the authors name. Number 2 is the centre alignment and as you can see it goes almost straight through the characters eye and body. Number 3 and 4 shows that everything is in line on each side.

The final thing I looked at was proximity. All the pieces of text that are in close proximity should be read together. As you can see I have highlighted all the different pieces of text that are in close proximity and that your eyes would naturally read together.



























Back Cover

Again, I looked at contrast. As it's such a colourful book there are many contrasts between the colours but I only labelled a few. Number one shows the contrast between the pink and the blue. Number two shows the same contrast but in a different area, and number 3 shows the use of contrasting complementary colours purple and yellow, which are used more frequently on the back than the front. Number 4 highlights another colour contrast between the red and the pink. And number five shows a difference in the size of decorative cirlcles on the cover.

Then I looked at repetition. Number one highlights the repetition of the decorative circles used all over the cover. Number two shows the repetition of the complementary colours purple and yellow. Number three and four show the repetition of the colours pink and blue. And finally, number five shows the repetition of the stars.

Next I looked at alignment. Number 1 is the centre line, and as you can see it goes straight down the middle star. Number two and five shows the top and bottom alignment of the illustration. Number three and four show the right and left alignment and as you can see everything is in line.

Finally, I looked at proximity. As you can see there wasn't that much information on the back cover, but I highlighted the pieces of text that were in close proximity and should be read together.


























Left flap

First, I looked at contrast. Number one is the contrast between the two different coloured texts: black and purple. This creates a bit of variety instead of it all being just one colour which could look quite dull. Number two is the contrast between the brightly coloured illustrated graphic and the simple pink background. And finally number three shows the contrast between the size of fonts.

Then I looked at repetition. Number one shows the repetition of the illustration. Number two shows the repetition of the same typeface, this means that it is a concording typeface.

Next I looked at alignment. Number one is the centre line of the flap. Number two shows the top and bottom of the illustration. Number four and five show that everything is in line on the left and right of the flap, and finally number six shows the top of the graphic. Unfortunately the full book cover didn't fit on my scanner completely otherwise I would have highlighted the bottom of the illustrated graphic aswell.

Finally I looked at proximity. I highlighted the pieces of text that were in close proximity so should be read together.































Right flap

  Looking at contrast again, number one shows the contrast between the bright orange illustration and the pale pink background. Number two shows the contrast between the red and white decorative circles. Number three shows the contrast between the coloured dots and the purple compared to the orange frame surrounding it. Finally, number four shows the contrast between the pale pink background and the dark purple text.

Next, I labelled repetition. Number one is the repetition of the circles which surround the image of the author. Number two is the repetition of the orange and purple illustration, number three is the repetition of the colour orange. Finally, number four is the repetition of the sans serif typeface.

I then labelled the alignment. Number one is the centre alignment, this goes straight down the middle of the image of the authors face. Number two and three show that everything is in line. Number four and five show the top and bottom alignment of the first paragraph of text. Number six and seven show the top and bottom alignment of the second paragraph.

Then for proximity. I simply highlighted the pieces of text that were in close proximity so should be read together.































Spine

Looking at contrast, I labelled number one because of the contrast in the different sizes of type especially the book title and authors name compared to the piece of text at the bottom of the spine. I also labelled number one because of the different colours of each of the pieces of text. Number two shows the difference in the two shades of pink (the pale pink background and the hot pink book title).

Next, I labelled repetition. I labelled number one because although they are different shades of pink, the colour pink is still repeated. Next, I labelled number two because all the pieces of text are in a sans serif typeface.

Then I labelled alignment. Number one is the centre line and as you can see it goes straight through the middle of each piece of text. Numbers two and three show that the text is in line with eachother on both left and right sides.

Finally, I highlighted proximity. As it was just the spine it was obvious what was in close proximity.

Drafting

What I wanted to achieve was relelvance to my book, but with a style that has never been done before. After doing my copy and emulation using Rob Ryan's style I really liked the idea of using a 'cut-out' design for my own book cover. Looking at all the different styles of The Wind In The Willows I haven't seen one in a style like this so I thought it was a good idea. My aim is to have lots of relevance decoration to my book cover this would be things like: oars, boats, cars, trees, leaves etc..

This was the first draft I did. After looking at Rob Ryan's artwork again I noticed that he made a border around some of his artwork so I did a similar one here. This draft I feel is too cluttered and there isn't as much relevance to the book cover as I'd like as it's quite vague.

I tried to simplify my second draft because I thought the first one was too cluttered. However, this one I feel is too simple and has hardly any relevance to my book.

I like this design because it's a lot more detailed than the second draft but it isn't cluttered. Also, there is a lot more relevance as I have drawn little images in the border at the top of the page. Drawings such as: boats, trees and leaves. Also, I like the title as it is quite branch-like and goes well with the book. The two characters on the back of this book cover draft are two main characters (Mole and Ratty) so I think that this draft has lots of relevance to the book.

Typography choices - My own character set

I started experimenting with different styles. I tried sans serif, serif, script and display typefaces. I finally chose to do my character set as the bottom typeface. I finally decided on this style because I thought that it had the most relevance to my book as it is meant to look like tree branches.

As you can see I have try to make this character set have relevance to my book cover by infusing nature and tree branches in my design. I may actually use this character set for my book cover.

I then scanned in my character set and adjusted the threshold. Thankfully all of my lines were joined up so all I had to do was fill them with colour. I chose green because it has relevance to my book cover as the story is set in the woodlands. Although my character set was inspired by branches, I didn't fill them in with brown as I thought that would be quite dull and not very eye-catching.

Here are some screenshots showing the steps I did to colour my character set:

After scanning, I opened the image in photoshop and adjusted the threshold so it was purely just black and white.

Here are some screenshots to show what I did:

After scanning them in I opened the file on photoshop and adjusted the threshold so the image was just purely black and white. After doing this, I used the magic wand tool and removed the white. So it looked like the image above.

 I then filled the shapes with the same green colour that I have chose for my character set.

I removed the outline so it looked like the above image.
Here is my complete character set:

I decided to name my character set Twiggy type.