Lucy James: Graphic Design

Major Study Material

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A quick mock up of the final cover. 

This project has been quite a challenge, firstly working with an illustrator to meet deadlines and provide exactly what the client wanted. The second was working with a client who wanted something quite specific and trying to meet those expectations while retaining my own flair and design style. 

Overall I’m happy with this cover, I think it will sit well among other books of a similar genre and hopefully stand out among the at the same time. 

If I were to do this project over I would most likely have added some more detail onto the top of the cliff but I think it still works well as it is and the client is happy overall.

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Final layout of the book cover, as this book is being privately published there is not yet a template to go by until the pages have been printed due to the spine width. However after sitting with the client and putting all the pieces together this is the end result. 

I have added red to the bottom of the background as the storyline follows a powerful red rune as well as finding a rune font that, when translated, reads Ascension of Karrak which the client loved. 

The typeface for the blurb is in Garamond as this is quite a traditional font and works well with the title font. I also had to add the logo of the publisher which doesnt fit in very well. 

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Tests on titles.... The best way to test the titles was to put it in situe. I found some typefaces that best showed the theme of the book and followed from the research I had done into book covers. The clients and my favourite was the bottom choice as the A and F letterforms were almost elf like. 

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Before moving on to the text I added a few dark clouds to the background, darkened the illustration and tidied up the steps and castle. 

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Instead of showing the client the character on its own, I decided to use it in situation so that I could test backgrounds with him. I used a photoshop filter to liken the photograph to the style of the illustration. 

The overall feedback was fairly positive. The client requested that there be a castle carved into the rock and there be steps leading up to it. Although he loved the initial illustration he wanted me to alter the hood so it wasn’t as pointy. 

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Here is the character that Melody sent over, I think this is the exact balance of showing the storyline and allowing for imagination. She has used gouache to paint this illustration which allows for blending. 

I am really happy to use this image, I think it is exactly what the client is looking for and I look forward to hearing his feedback. 

Melody also sent over some images of backgrounds which I don’t have the original files to. However I believe they are not detailed enough as to what the client wants and I also want the ability to chop and change elements of the background as the client has the tendency to change his mind.

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The client wanted a cover for his fantasy book that would be published and sold in bookshops and on amazon as an eBook. The main storyline is of a villan trying to find a stone to rule the world. 

I did a little background research into Fantasy novel covers, the client had mentioned he wanted the main characters on the front page which I tried to dissuade him from doing. My thoughts are that if you put an image on the cover the reader does not use their own imagination and therefore it makes the book a little less magical. 

After browsing through a few covers, the client said that he could settle for an image like ‘The Crippled God’ cover where the character is facing away from the audience. 

He described his character as well built, with long, brown hair and beard and wearing a cloak with golden runes down the edges. Having no real experience illustrating something like this I got in touch with Melody Franks in Illustration and sent her the brief. 

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A mock up to show how the logo could be applied. This is a luxury hotel so its possible they would want to put their logo on merchandise.

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Second phase logo designs. The client liked the tree and giraffe but wanted a more swampy background and more brown and green colour scheme which I had tried to stay away from. 

This is the final logo choice. The client wanted something quite specific so it was hard to have much creativity on this project. Despite this i think the logo is very suitable for its use and overall looks very professional. 

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Here are my initial designs for the Murchison Logo, I used colours that would be reminiscent of a sunset as this would entice people to look further into the company. I included a range of modern and classic style ideas and a range of fonts so that the client could mix and match. 

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The client is a safari resort in Uganda who offer treehouse accommodation. They are a luxury, upmarket hotel and are looking for a new logo to represent them. 

Here are a few existing logos that I found, many use oranges and yellows. I particularly like the negative space logos. However the client prefers something more traditional like the “Afrikana” logo. 

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The final edit of the brochure. 

Overall I’m really happy with the outcome of this. I have learnt about using type weights to draw the eye, rules of thirds or halves and how to design a layout to look as clean and professional as possible. 

I think the brochure really flows as a whole, all the images are the same size, I have only got 3 variations of layout that flow throughout and the spacing is equal on each page. If I were to have more time I would have liked to take more photos of the products rather than use mock ups as although the mock ups look very clean, they just aren’t as good as a professional shot of the real thing.

The problems I encountered previously were due to the clients wants and needs, as he runs a design business himself it was by his direction most of the initial designs were created. I needed to have the confidence to show him my own ideas and take them further.

If I were to give this to the client I am almost sure he would want a reprint for his next set of brochures. 

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Some playing around with the layout. My issues with the initial layout were that the subtitles were lost among the title and the body text. There needed to be a way of separating the title and then flowing the subtitle to the body text. 

I tackled this by using tints, the title is 60%, the subtitle is 55% and the body text is 50%. Although these are only subtle differences in colour it is enough to stagger the three to the eye. 

My second change was from Upper to Title case. The title is already in Upper and therefore when using upper again on the subtitle it throws the balance. By using title case I think this leads well into the body text almost like a stepping stone between all caps and lower case. 

I wasn’t keen on the dark bar at the top either, it almost sat too heavy on the content causing all the weight to be at the top of the page. I realised this as I played around with the two initial layouts. For the bottom layout I separated the title from the rest of the text to show it was a stand alone title. I then used a focus line from the quote pages to create a subtle divide of the title and body text. I took the image in from the edge to create a cleaner look and then adjusted the layout overall into thirds.

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From the original page to my own. My main issue with the previous design was the weighting of the text and lines detracted from certain parts. In some pages the subtitles were taken over by the text underneath due to it being much darker. The eye reads where there is most contrast and therefore I kept the quote fairly dark (about 70% black) and then the quotes and lines much lighter so as to draw the eye to the quote and encapsulate but not to overpower. 

I also took out 3 of the 5 quotes as I felt it was far too text heavy, no one will stop and read 5 quotes, one strong quote per page is sufficient. I toyed with the idea of using images on these pages but felt it would detract from the imapct of the quote.

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A small tweak on the leading as the ‘For Schools’ looked closer to the “Brand Design” than the “& Acadamies” I think this looks much better to the eye.

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Development on the Studio brochure. I kept the grey card and foil look as I think it worked well, however I wasn’t keen on the layout of the logo and strapline. I thought it wasn’t very balanced and the text was too small.

I had to keep the brand identity of the Studio so I left the grey and white and the font Avenir but used focus lines to break the text from the logo and create a clean look. I had seen this done in previous brochures but I had to have a play as the square cover did not suit a rectangular layout. 

I am happy with the bottom layout. I think it is clean and evenly spaced, the sizing of the logo matches the sizing of the strapline without the strapline going below 10pt. The focus lines breaks the two apart with plenty of space to stop overcrowding. I positioned it at the bottom left as I feel this offsets the rectangular layout with the square space. 

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Final design for the studio brochure. Due to restrictions on time this was the final edit on the Studios brochure. There are a few things I’m not 100% happy with but overall I think it should bring in the clients that the Studio are aiming for. 

The brochure was printed with a thick cover on grey card and foiled text and the inners were uncoated which worked really well against the colours of the photographs. 

When I showed this to David he pointed out a few errors and I explained that when designing for a client you must follow their instructions as it their product, however I will be developing this project on a personal level until I am happy with the result.