Book Cover Design, Part Four: The Finished Product

So, now you know how my comp sketch from Part One http://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2015/03/book-cover-design-part-one-comp-sketch.html ended up as my final art in Part Three http://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2015/03/book-cover-design-part-three-final.html , but how about the jacket design, itself? Did the client approve my font choice, typesetting design and placement of the artwork in the mockup from Part Two http://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2015/03/book-cover-design-part-two-mockup.html ?

The answer is yes. After the one fairly simple change to the format of the illustration mentioned in my last post, the rest of my design for the book cover was approved with no problems, and the picture above is the finished product. Thanks for following along for the multi-step process of designing a book cover. Hope you found it interesting and informative!

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Book Cover Design, Part Three: Final Art...or Not

Continued from Part Two : http://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2015/03/book-cover-design-part-two-mockup.html

The client approved the comprehensive sketch with no changes, so I produced it in the final medium, colored ink with colored pencil accent. Since there were no changes, I was able to use the original pen and ink drawing (from which I made the photocopies in Part One) and add the color to that. However, after the finished artwork was submitted, the client wondered if it wouldn't be too much trouble to change the format of the triptych slightly. Where I'd had diagonal transitions, the client wanted vertical transitions.

It WAS kind of a pain to make changes, especially because the deadline didn't leave me a lot of time to redo the piece from scratch. However, since only a scan of the work was going to submitted and not the physical copy, I knew I could actually cut the board itself to reconfigure the illustration. After a bit of literal cut-and-paste, the final piece was submitted...and approved!

Artwork is my original. To see how it compares to the original sketch, see Part One:http://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2015/03/book-cover-design-part-one-comp-sketch.html

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Book Cover Design, Part Two: The Mockup

After producing my comp sketch http://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2015/03/book-cover-design-part-one-comp-sketch.html , I wanted to show how I would use it as part of the book cover. The client wanted a simple book cover that wouldn't be tricky to print, so I used black type on a plain white background, centering the triptych illustration across the middle and set off with a red border.

A "mockup" helps a client see how the final illustration will look within the finished project. Mockups for book covers will normally involve placement and typesetting, which is of course quite easy now that a computer can be used, with hundreds of different font styles and sizes. It used to be an artist had to use transfer lettering, laboriously applied, and before that, hand-lettering was required!

Do you like the way the comp sketch appears on the cover of the book? Do you think the client liked the illustration itself, and also the design for the cover?

Let's go see what happens in Part Three!  http://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2015/03/book-cover-design-part-three-final.html

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Book Cover Design, Part One: The Comp Sketch

A few years ago, I was contracted to provide a book cover design and several interior illustrations for a book about the dyeing and restoration process for fabrics, leather and suede. The author left the design concept up to me, and once I submitted a sketch, he would approve it or suggest changes. I read the manuscript and decided that since the title was very straightforward, I would make a triptych-style illustration (a triptych is composed of three panels that either fit together to make a larger piece, or that coordinate--if two are used, it is called a diptych). One panel would show the science behind the process, as many dyes are mixed according to a specific recipe or chemical process; one would show examples of materials mentioned in the title--I used a satiny fabric, a shiny black leather, and a muted brown suede for maximum contrast among the three. The final panel would show someone carefully redyeing a piece of clothing.

I produced a "comp sketch" for the client. "Comp" is short for "comprehensive". A comprehensive sketch differs greatly from, say, a thumbnail sketch, which is a small, loose rendering designed only to communicate a simple concept and perhaps to figure out compositional elements. A comp sketch is comprehensive--that is to say, it is done full size, with the final composition and colors and rendered fully. The only difference between the comprehensive sketch and the finished art, other than any changes requested by the client, might be the medium. Usually "quicker" graphic media such as ink, marker and colored pencil are used, whereas finished art is more likely to be painted (this is about art done by hand, not on the computer, obviously). I made a line drawing in ink on board, and then I photocopied the line drawing and colored it with colored pencils. This way, if the client wanted color changes, it would be easy enough to make another photocopy of the original drawing and submit the new color scheme.

Above photo is my first comp sketch. Click to enlarge for detail.
Here's Part Two  http://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2015/03/book-cover-design-part-two-mockup.html

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