FMP (BA): Moby Dick Sketch Improvements

Choosing the Composition

I lay the two designs down in front of me and took a step back to compare the two, despite having made my decision of going with the first composition. It was quite a difficult decision for me because I do like both designs so I decided to ask my classmates what they think.

They also had some trouble deciding so I asked them to pick out the elements they liked from each design. Some mentioned that they liked my handwriting-lettering on the design on the left, yet they liked the circle "spyglass" design, so I took out some tracing paper and roughly did a faint outline of that type style and placed it atop of the circle design of where the type would be.

The handwriting style didn't sit well with this composition due to the angling of each letter and how the ones at the middle would be really short. This made the h, for example, look more like an n. 

My decision is to thus go with my first composition (the one on the left shown in the top photo) and, if I have the time, to do the second composition. I will be creating a DPS (double-paged spread) so it is possible to use the other composition and adapt it so that I display Herman Merville's (the author) name with the title of the book in the centre. 

Making Improvements 

Looking at this quick experiment I decided to just go along with my idea of the first composition and drew it out on tracing paper before scanning it in. When I scanned it in I noticed how inaccurate my kerning was and that there wasn't a consistency in type thickness - an aspect that I should've noticed much easier as the more accurate each letter was, the better. It just looked as if I rushed the design and didn't really think about the way each letter sits so I just redrew the whole thing.

I concentrated mainly on the kerning because I want it to be as accurate as possible. To do this I had to draw out the middle letter and work outwards, but it took a lot of adjusting, rubbing out and re-drawing to get it right. I made the kerning for Ishmael 0.5cm and each letter 2cm wide, which actually fit, although I had to widen the gap for the S slightly as it took up more room (so it was more like 2.3cm for S). "Call Me" had the same kerning but I made each letter 1.5cm wide and the l's 0.7cm wide.

Once everything was redrawn I started working on the lining. I used my micron pens as they show up a lot better when scanned than biro, and started at a 01 thickness. All of the illustrators were 01, and the type was at 02.

I did go with having more detailed waves in the end but instead of doing it all lined, I just did the tips of the waves. This was actually a happy accident because I wanted to emphasise the tops of the waves and started working on them first, but got a cramp on my hand so I couldn't carry on for 5 minutes! During these 5 minutes of pain I looked at it and realised that it actually looked good like this and didn't overwhelm the design with detail as I was going to add a grunge effect later.

Inking 

This didn't take too long because it was just a case of inking the letters with black ink. This time I used my "Black Magic Black Ink" instead of India Ink because I wanted to experiment with it a little bit. The ink came out a lot thinner but that might be because I added water to it during a previous project...

My idea is to them invert the design in Photoshop so that everything that is black would be white, and vice versa. This idea was inspired by Tobias Saul's work [here], Jon Contino's [here], chalk lettering as well as WEAREYAWN [here] as I really like the way the black background is made 'grungey' with textures.

Reflective Thinking

I'm still a bit stuck on deciding the composition but I think that working on one first is the best due to the small timeframe that I have. I am glad that I asked for some feedback and I did try doing it with my handwriting but I just felt that I have been leaning on the more calligraphic typefaces in my designs and I don't want each one to look the same. I want to experiment as much as possible, and I think my first design (the spyglass one) allows that to happen.

Who knows, if I do have time I might be able to do both designs and compare them, but right now I shall work on this one. I'll take one step at a time!

I am glad that my lecturer pointed out the problems with the letter-thickness because if he hand't I probably would've carried on doing it digitally and only think about it right at the end. I now have a more accurate design and the type looks so much neater and better. It actually makes me feel more comfortable looking at it, and when I look at my first sketch I do admit that I cringe a little. 

I hope that the digital process won't take as long due to the accuracy of the lines and that it'll just be a case of inverting it and adding texture. Who knows! I might experiment with the type too...

Learning Outcomes:

[5] Developed skills of independent study, resource utilisation, problem-solving and decision-taking.

[6] Developed skills of critical thinking, analysis and evaluation.

[7] Developed their ability to learn through reflection on practice and experience.
[9] Developed their ability to work with complex material, analyse problems and identify appropriate solutions.