Narrative Illustration/ Development. Making the cover

I began to produce the Cover Illustration in much the same way as my other Illustrations. As I explained in my research, the cover is meant to attract a reader. I wanted my cover to be colourful and still stand out on a book shelf. Firstly I measured my copy of the novel using a ruler. The measurements of the copy are 20cm by 13cm and the width of the spine is 1cm thick. 

Using these measurements I then drew up a template to use in my early designs. I wanted the cover to definitely show the peach but I was unsure how best to include this in the design. I had an idea to place small symbols in a circular order round the peach, representing parts of the story. This was used in my first mock up for the cover. I also included a decorative banner design across the top of the page to separate the title from the Peach image, I hoped this would help give extra definition to the design. For the spine I placed the title and a small scribble of the flying peach to add extra detail. The words read downwards as I found this to be the most common choice on book spines. The back of the book design continued with the banner pattern. On the top I thought it would be interesting to place some seagulls tied to a text box. I did not have much opportunity to feature the Gulls in the book so I wanted to include them on the cover.

First drawing idea for the Peach

First cover concept

Although I was happy with this design,  I felt it needed to be tweaked in a few places. The Symbol choice could be better and the Banner at the top could be more detailed, I also wanted to try a version with the Insects around the Peach instead of Symbols. 

Version two took those concerns into account. I made a few tweaks to the banner design and tried to place the Bugs around the peach. The Bug designs were kept as Silhouettes as they are quite small and stand out more as a block colour. I thought I could keep them as silhouettes and just colour them differently but I liked the block black as it stands out much more. I also made the peach a bit smaller so it did not clutter the full page.  I would like to keep the Seagulls on the back page as I feel they fit with the overall design. I’m fairly happy with design two but I feel it needs some colour details adding to it.

Second cover concept

For colour I wanted to stick with the pallet I had used for all the interior Illustrations. I used a photocopy of my mock up to experiment with. I knew what colour the Peach would be but it was choosing complementing colours for the rest of the design. I still wanted it to look colourful above all else. 

Colour test 1

Colour test 2

Colour test 3

The Typography I used was simply hand drawn with the intention of it matching the pen work. Looking back I really should have put more thought in to this aspect of the cover but I was happy with it at the time. I only tried a few different looks but they were all fairly similar. I chose design three because I felt it was the most playful but they all look similar. I still find that it works with the look and feel of the book but it might be hard for some people to read, because of the chaotic look and the thin line.

When I was creating the final I wasn’t fully sticking to the plan I had drawn out. This was because I would be digitally editing the image in Photoshop after completing the hand drawn segments. The pen work was drawn using a light box as with my other illustrations. Afterword’s I coloured it using watercolour. I chose colour test two because I felt those colours went best together and the blue fits with the Ocean travel in the story.

At this point all the segments for the cover were complete but were in no state to be used. I would have to use Photoshop to clean these images further and construct the cover so it could be reasonably used as a book cover. One of these edits would be the spine of the book as Idrew it on a different piece of paper.

The cover before digital clean up.