After making my prototypes I began to notice small things that needed to be adjusted; whether it was only a small thing such as rearranging the type or something big like redoing an illustration, I wanted to do these changes so that I could improve my design.
I definitely haven't the time to produce another design as it's very close to my deadline so I thought it was better to take my time in making those adjustments.
Book Covers
I definitely haven't the time to produce another design as it's very close to my deadline so I thought it was better to take my time in making those adjustments.
Book Covers
After having produced my prototype I saw that it wasn't necessary to make my book cover any larger than the pages, so I simply produced a new document with the old dimensions and rearranged a few things.
I decided to include a blurb in the end and made it centre aligned after having seen that most books I had looked at during my research did it in the same format or are left-aligned. Some examples are shown here and here.
I decided to include a blurb in the end and made it centre aligned after having seen that most books I had looked at during my research did it in the same format or are left-aligned. Some examples are shown here and here.
Title Page
There was something bugging me about the inside title page as the book doesn't seem to be in the centre despite what the guides say in InDesign, so I visually centred it. In the end I just removed the book altogether as I felt that I had repeated the illustration far too much in my design seeing as it was already displayed on the front and back cover. Besides, after quickly looking back at my Harry Potter book, it seems that they had only the title.
"Credits" Page
I decided to add in some "hanging quotations" for my list of credits in order to produce a neater appearance. This was done by simply going onto Type > Story and then selecting "Optical Margin Alignment".
I decided to add in some "hanging quotations" for my list of credits in order to produce a neater appearance. This was done by simply going onto Type > Story and then selecting "Optical Margin Alignment".
When I saw it printed I realised that the type displaying the author's name and book title was a bit on the large size, so I went back to the original file in Photoshop and made it only slightly smaller. Then I updated the version on my InDesign file.
Thoughts
When I placed this version side-by-side with the other half of this DPS, I realised that the author's name and title didn't detract any attention away from the main illustration. This means that making it smaller was definitely a good idea even though it was only a small change.
LOTR - Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost
I had photocopied my LOTR map, erasing the borderlines as I have the idea to change the way I drew the edges to make it look more like a sea rather than contours. Unfortunately I didn't take photos of this process so my screenshots start on when I was working digitally.
I did the drawing side of things in two stages:
I then copied over the tea background I had on my original layer. I noticed that type and mountain/road/tree illustrations on this newer version wasn't as strong as my old version... To overcome this I simply erased everything apart from the border and then copied and pasted in my old version. I then erased the border, dragon, and ship illustration from the old version.
I realised that I didn't like the new border either because it was really jagged as some of the areas were accidentally deleted, so I just used the border from the older version and combined that with waves.
I zoomed out again and noticed that there were small areas of white dots mainly based around my illustrations. I therefore duplicated my layer, locked it, and used a large brush to painted over everything in black.
This made the illustration too strong in my opinion, compared to the previous version. To overcome this I simply reduced the opacity of the "black paint" and kept my other layer visible. From this "black paint" layer I deleted the type as I wanted to show the ink gradient (and the paintbrush had erased this feature).
And then I was done!
Thoughts
The way I had changed the sea really made it look more of a sea, and I chose the second map as inspiration for this. This map now resembles more of those 'medieval' and vintage maps were map-makers (if that is the correct term) used to do lots of little illustrations of sea monsters, dragons and other such creatures.
The changes I made were only very small - such as creating a "black paint" layer - but I believe that they do strengthen the overall design. This has shown that I'm starting to get a lot pickier with my designs as I aim to make it look at its best. It was quite time-consuming but I think it was worth it in the end.
I am glad that I made the above changes because when I look back at my old version I realise just how much it actually needed to be changed for the better.
I did the drawing side of things in two stages:
- Firstly, I deleted the boundaries to then work on the waves as well as the boat illustration. I deleted the dragon because I wasn't too sure about this and added in a sea monster. I made these have a thicker outline to blend in with the thick lines used on the rest of the map. This is shown in the first two pictures.
- Secondly, I printed it out again and this time just focused on the dragon and also gave it a thicker outline.
I then put everything together in Photoshop to further tweak my lineart. I noticed that the illustration was slightly larger than my boundaries so I had to move my sea monster illustration and delete some of the waves.
I then copied over the tea background I had on my original layer. I noticed that type and mountain/road/tree illustrations on this newer version wasn't as strong as my old version... To overcome this I simply erased everything apart from the border and then copied and pasted in my old version. I then erased the border, dragon, and ship illustration from the old version.
I realised that I didn't like the new border either because it was really jagged as some of the areas were accidentally deleted, so I just used the border from the older version and combined that with waves.
I zoomed out again and noticed that there were small areas of white dots mainly based around my illustrations. I therefore duplicated my layer, locked it, and used a large brush to painted over everything in black.
This made the illustration too strong in my opinion, compared to the previous version. To overcome this I simply reduced the opacity of the "black paint" and kept my other layer visible. From this "black paint" layer I deleted the type as I wanted to show the ink gradient (and the paintbrush had erased this feature).
And then I was done!
Thoughts
The way I had changed the sea really made it look more of a sea, and I chose the second map as inspiration for this. This map now resembles more of those 'medieval' and vintage maps were map-makers (if that is the correct term) used to do lots of little illustrations of sea monsters, dragons and other such creatures.
The changes I made were only very small - such as creating a "black paint" layer - but I believe that they do strengthen the overall design. This has shown that I'm starting to get a lot pickier with my designs as I aim to make it look at its best. It was quite time-consuming but I think it was worth it in the end.
I am glad that I made the above changes because when I look back at my old version I realise just how much it actually needed to be changed for the better.
Nelson Mandela
I wanted to neaten up the type as when it had been scanned it before the scanner managed to delete some of the writing. So I photocopied my original sketch without the writing within and tried writing it out a few times before reaching my decision.
I then scanned in my chosen design and made all of the usual adjustments before carrying it across to my original layer. I then made a few more adjustments before comparing the two versions.
I then scanned in my chosen design and made all of the usual adjustments before carrying it across to my original layer. I then made a few more adjustments before comparing the two versions.
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| Left: New version Right: Old version |
I found the this was a definite improvement but I still wasn't 100% sure about it. I think it was because I felt that the writing was now too close together and that it needed a bit more room to breathe... So it was back to the drawing board again and this time I made sure I had produced at least 7 copies so that I had more of a choice to choose from. After flicking through them all I finally chose the one that was not only written correctly, but had a strong structure to it without any of the wide kernings.
Then I repeated the whole process again but this time I paid more attention to making some more adjustments so that the type was at its best. This included making everything more central and shifting the top line down slightly so that it sat on a smooth curve. I also had to shift the words around so that the kerning was even.
Here was my final piece:
Thoughts
There's a definite improvement between this and the original version; there wasn't any horrible kerning and the writing is a lot more fluid which is probably because this was one of the last versions I worked on, so my hand got used to working in a confined space. The type also sits in the centre of the banners and although I did want them to be spread out it actually works for the better as it solves that kerning problem I had.
Reflective & Critical Thinking
As mentioned right at the top of this post, even though most of these were small adjustments I believe that they do affect the overall outcome of the book design. This was the first time I had designed a book and so I wanted to tweak as much as possible to ensure that my design is successful.
These adjustments show that I am slowly improving as a hand-letterer and illustrator and that I have developed a keen eye on when it comes to spotting what needs to be changed. I did this with the help from the feedback that I have gathered and I'm glad that I'm asking my audience on what they think. This is because they may be able to point things out that I have not necessarily picked up on before, and this whole blog post shows my response to that feedback.
Now I hoping that I wouldn't have to adjust my designs any further but it all depends on my next couple of prototypes. In the meantime I will focus on those prototypes so that it'll be easier to actually bind my final product.
Learning Outcomes:
[1] Developed their awareness of the needs and requirements of professional practice, manifested in the ability to produce practical graphic design work of high technical quality.
[5] Developed skills of independent study, resource utilisation, problem-solving and decision-taking.
[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.
Here was my final piece:
Thoughts
There's a definite improvement between this and the original version; there wasn't any horrible kerning and the writing is a lot more fluid which is probably because this was one of the last versions I worked on, so my hand got used to working in a confined space. The type also sits in the centre of the banners and although I did want them to be spread out it actually works for the better as it solves that kerning problem I had.
Reflective & Critical Thinking
As mentioned right at the top of this post, even though most of these were small adjustments I believe that they do affect the overall outcome of the book design. This was the first time I had designed a book and so I wanted to tweak as much as possible to ensure that my design is successful.
These adjustments show that I am slowly improving as a hand-letterer and illustrator and that I have developed a keen eye on when it comes to spotting what needs to be changed. I did this with the help from the feedback that I have gathered and I'm glad that I'm asking my audience on what they think. This is because they may be able to point things out that I have not necessarily picked up on before, and this whole blog post shows my response to that feedback.
Now I hoping that I wouldn't have to adjust my designs any further but it all depends on my next couple of prototypes. In the meantime I will focus on those prototypes so that it'll be easier to actually bind my final product.
Learning Outcomes:
[1] Developed their awareness of the needs and requirements of professional practice, manifested in the ability to produce practical graphic design work of high technical quality.
[5] Developed skills of independent study, resource utilisation, problem-solving and decision-taking.
[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.
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