EVALUATION - Room 101

I chose to put cats in Room 101. Being a dog lover, I see cats as quite self obsessed animals that rarely offer love and affection to anyone but themselves. The illustration therefore reflected this throughout the use of a book format, to represent an autobiography by a self-indulgent cat that has no other friends apart from itself. The tone of voice is humorous, and is not intended to offend, this is strengthened through the use of colour and type.

For the final outcomes, I created an A3 posters, and also a book sleeve to show how the design would be applied to this context. In terms of colour and visuals, the design is strong, bold and eye catching, giving it shelf appeal within a store environment. The concept is strengthened through the tone of voice, choosing to include more colours than the brief initially asked for in order to create more impact and to reflect the personality of the book.

This brief was initially meant to have a quick turn around, as it was simply an A3 poster. However, the development process took longer than anticipated, which has happened on quite a few occasions within my briefs. My initial concept changed quite drastically, which set me back and then I wasn’t happy with the visuals, which led to me returning to the brief at a later date. Although this brief became stretched out, I am extremely glad that I made the decision to re-do the design so that it was much more reflective of my ideas, and visually looked more consistent in terms of my practice.

Although I used some primary sources, if I was to do anything differently next time, I would make sure to collect as many reference images as possible in order to aid my design, as this has been effective in various other briefs.

ROOM 101 - development

Using both primary and secondary images, I began to sketch out some appropriate illustrations. Initially, I only started with a few so that I could see how it was planning out, giving me the opportunity to add in and take away imagery as appropriate. 

I wanted to achieve a playful visual, that created a contrast with what is actually quite negative content. I wanted to portray the cat's own perception of themselves as a wonderful character also. To do this, I chose vivid colours and a crayon effect for the stroke. 

Choosing a stroke

A range of different stroke effects were applied to my initial illustrations to see which was the most appropriate. It needed to be thick enough to make the image clear, but still have that sketchy visual.

Illustration and colour development

Now that the stroke effect had been applied, I started to explore colour. Each chosen colour was vivid and playful, offering an alternative representation of the imagery.

Developing imagery

Above is some appropriate imagery that will be used for the book cover. As I am not a cat fan, a bit of research was needed to find out some of their "favourite things". These included:

Fish

Seafood

Mice

Catnip 

Toys

Beds

Collars

Wool/string

Development

A blank art board was created, and I began to develop a possible front cover using the illustrations. These illustrations were drawn up during this process so that I could assess and evaluate what would be successful.

Front cover development

The above screenshots show how the cover began to build up into an overlaid print. Block colour and simple stroke overlapping has proved successful and quite intriguing, giving it individuality. It also displays the wax crayon effect.

Using my research to inform my design, I felt that the most fitting text for my cover would be hand drawn type. This would compliment it's illustrative nature, and almost sort of reflect the idea that it is meant to have been produced by a cat. The type was kept solid black so that it would stand out against the busy background. A more clear space was also kept in this area so that it was legible. 

Book Cover development

ROOM 101 - development/change in direction

Book Cover Design

I decided that it was necessary to start this brief again as I felt that the initial design was unsuccessful, and didn't reflect how I wanted to be viewed as a designer. The concept was strong but the visuals let it down. I also wanted to make sure that I really pushed the concept and the idea of it being a book cover, rather than just a poster. To help inform my design, I looked at a range of different covers that would help me gain a better understanding of what I needed to achieve.

Ben Wiseman

The colours really stood out to be within this design. The navy on the mint green is so effective, creating a great contrast. The illustrative nature of the cover makes it unique, and the use of crayon adds texture. This is also a great example of how effective hand type can be, which is something I want to explore on my own cover. 

Elana Giavaldi

Again I looked at this cover for it's use of hand type alongside digital text, making a great pairing. It is also interesting to see how this compliments photographic image to create a design that appears almost real. 

Gabrielle Hamilton

This cover takes on a really humorous and unique approach, using both imagery and hand drawn type  to visually reflect the contents of the book. The shape of the chicken has been used as a canvas for the type, creating a really unique layout with varied text styles. 

Maria Ines

This cover works with similar content to that being used within the Room 101 brief. It is useful to see how cat based imagery has been used to create an engaging design. 

Herve Tullett

The use of playful imagery and colour on this cover is extremely effective, giving it great shelf appeal. It takes on a much more inviting visual that is fun and exciting. The loose hand drawn style is something that I wish to explore, with a crayon like feel to it. 

Andrea Portes

Again, this cover explores how hand drawn type can work alongside photography. Although I am not particularly a fan of the colours used, I believe that the imagery gets the message across in terms of the title of the book. This loose, messy style also suits the title in terms of it not sticking to the rules, therefore being a 'misfit' itself. 

Greig Heinimann

Whilst I am not a fan of the colours used on this cover, it is evident that they are reflective of the content, and are therefore successful in that sense. I was attracted to the use of big, bold text that has been used to catch the audience's attention. Whilst visually this looks intriguing, I feel that the title of the book should have been larger than the author in terms of hierarchy, as this is the most important piece of information. 

Nathan Burton

This cover is quite simple but also really effective. Colour has been restricted, and therefore the design hasn't been over complicated. Although not necessarily a standard colour used for a cat, it still works. I think it's interesting to see how colour can be explored and applied to illustration. 

Alison Carmichael

Beautiful, flowing hand drawn type on top of a striking shade of teal - perfect. 

ROOM 101 - mid boards

Although I plan on returning to this brief, I thought that I would make some interim boards on what I have developed so far. At a later date, I will return to the brief after undertaking further research that will help to inform my design so that I can create something I am more content with.

ROOM 101 - development

I decided that I wasn't satisfied with my overall design, particularly the typeface. I felt that as the rest of the design was done by hand, then the text should be also. I wanted to create something that reflected the so-called importance of the book, and therefore chose to draw out a serif type by hand. 

Hand drawn type

This is the type that I decided to go with, which was drawn by hand, scanned in and then put into illustrator. I could then edit the type, making sure it was sharp and crisp. I made the decision not to fill it and keep it simply as an outline so that it reflected the illustrative border. 

Changing composition and layout

This type was then added to the cover. I'm not completely satisfied with it, however the entire brief has really frustrated me. I struggled with it mainly because I was working with a subject that I didn't actually like, and therefore felt no real connection to it - I'm also not very good at drawing cats. This is something that I am going to come back to at a later date, once I have done some more research into book covers and layouts. 

ROOM 101 - design development

The concept I have come up with is to create a book cover, specifically an autobiography. This way, I will be able to fully play on the title of 'My own best friend'. I wanted to keep it humorous and lighthearted, and an effective way of reinforcing this and my quote was through the use of a book. The autobiography idea backs up my beliefs that cats are quite self involved and are not the type of animal looking for love and affection. On the other hand, a dog is said to be man's best friend.

Creating a border for book cover

I wanted to create a border that would surround the outsides of my cover. This border would be made up of objects and items that relate to cats, so that my illustration isn't wholly relying on an illustration of a cat. It will also frame the cat, much like a self portrait, which reinforces my concept. Objects in the border include:

catnip

bow

paw print

leaves

fish

flowers

To begin with, I started my designs in three different shades of blue. The brief states that a maximum of three colours are allowed, and my first thoughts were that the blue worked well with the fish and the rest of the illustrations. However, this may change when it comes to illustrating the cat itself, as it may look rather strange. 

Development

I then went on to putting the border together, and began to add type. I want the type to be quite playful, as though the cat itself somehow wrote it. I looked at a number of different layout possibilities which can be seen below. 

Initially I had created some hand drawn type, however, this wasn't effective and it didn't work well alongside the border. 

I therefore started to use a hand drawn type, which I felt complimented the border and the illustrations. I looked at a number of different ways at playing the text within the border. 

Colour development

The more I developed the design, it became much more apparent that the colour scheme I had chosen was not appropriate to the content. It reminded me of a greetings card for a baby boy, rather than what it is actually intended to represent. As I am restricted in terms of colour, I decided to see how a simple black and white design would work, this may also allow me to go on to screen printing the design with ease. 

The black and white scheme was so much more bold and stand out than the previous blue. I therefore decided to carry on using this, and began to add illustration. I initially struggled with the illustration of the cat, as I didn't quite know what the best way of going about doing it was. It was quite hard to draw something that matched the border and the type. I tried quite a playful and cartoon approach (left) but then began working on a more linear design (right). 

I then began to experiment with block colour, to see how this would effect the design. I am still uncertain as to how these designs are working, and therefore before going any further I am going to get some feedback from my peers as to what direction to head in next.