Do Judge a Book by its Cover | Media Tests

I chose to continue with the book jacket design of the man. I felt that this design had a tone that I wanted to put across (something 'classic' looking? Reminiscent of the Pelican book designs..) and I liked the potential of the repeated images. 

I did a number of small tests with different media..

Coloured paper, various inks, stencils..

I think that the different coloured paper worked okay, however lighter colours may be best so that the linework is still visible. Alternatively, I could apply colour and blending modes on photoshop for similar effects if necessary.

I'm not sure about the use of ink. I feel that the crisp lines of the pencil used at first are lost, and the figure just looks too clunky.

As for the stencil, I won't take this forward. I just wanted to see how it could turn out, but it was surprisingly difficult. You really have to consider which lines will be inked, which parts are light or dark.

Printing, more printing, use of texture..

The first picture on the left is a terrible attempt at printing, without any proper materials. I really wanted to go for a mono-type print, but a bit of cardboard and acrylic paint only takes you so far. Next, I tried with gouache and a sheet of acetate - better but not brilliant. The line improved slightly, but in the end I gave it up as a bad job.

I liked some of the cast off textures made while I did some 'printing', so I tried collage with those. I like how this looks, but I feel that it was much too grungey and heavy compared to the classic, minimal appearance I had wanted initially.