Here is quick mind map of the photos that I might take for some clipping masks. 

Final in-depth analysis

Here is a a book cover design by designer John Gall. This particular design is for a book called 'Sweet Bird of Youth' by Tennessee Williams. The concept of the story is about a Chance Wayne who returns to his home town as the accompaniment of a faded movie star. I believe that the techniques that has been used is clipping masks. Gall has used incorporated photography, to make the clipping mask seem more real.   

I have selected this artists because of how effective the clipping mask technique. I felt that the clipping masks have worked really well with the story of the book, is a really unique concept that really captured my eye when I first saw it. I find this work really inspiring because of how Gall has introduce the shape of a bird into the design. A symbol of a bird represents youth and this fits perfectly with the title. I also like to think you can get two different views when looking at this. For example looking from a distance you can't really see the photograph of the girl that has been embedded in the birds wings, you just see a pattern and a show of the bird. However as you begin to look closer to the design you can see that the creatures pattern on the wings is actually a photograph of a young girl that look sweet and innocent, like as the name of the book suggests.  

This particular design by Gall links very well to one of my initial ideas. I feel that working with a clipping mask technique and pictures, it will create a really simple but an effective look that I think will suit the style I'm thinking of creating for my five Brothers Grimm books. What ideas have you got in response to this work? The ideas that I have got from this particular artist, John Gall, is the how something so simple of a 'silhouette' of a bird and the amount of shape and detail that has gone into making the outline of the bird. Also by having the addition of the photograph introduced into the bird has worked perfectly. And it has really inspired me to be more ambitious with the type of silhouettes that I may use for each of the books. Out of the designers that I have seen John Gall has really inspired me to create a really minimalistic idea that will compensate well with my five books, hopefully I will be able to make and design something as good as Gall's work.
  

Experiments inspired by Initial Designers

Initial Idea 1

Here is my double exposure type experiment inspired by Rowan Stocks-Moore. How I created this image was by using my own photograph of a pair of shoes, tracing the image with a black pen, then scanning it into the computer. After that I then used an image from the internet of 'Cinderella', and used that as the background for the double exposure. Then using the magnetic also tool, I drew around the image of the girl in the shape of the shoes which underneath the tracing of the shoes. I added a blue background to make the exposure seem more dominate on the page. I like this technique a lot because it might seem quite technical to achieve but it is actually really simple to do.  

Initial Idea 2

Above is my next idea, inspired by Lynn Buckley. Her concept of design is combining drawings and photography together. I firstly started off with a photograph of my self that I made slightly bigger to fill an A4 piece of paper. My next step was too trace lightly around half of the face, exploring all of the detail in the picture. After I scanned the traced imaged into the computer, I then used Photoshop to create two layers; the bottom with the original photograph and the top layer with the drawing. I made sure that I placed the drawing directly on top of where the original image was. On the drawing layer I used the paint brush and fill bucket tools to add the right colours to the image. I liked the process of this experiment because it was a step by step guide which was pretty easy to follow. If I had to change anything about this experiment it would be to use different mediums, like paints, pencils, chalk. The reason why this is to get different textures and feels of the image, instead of relying on the digital effect.          

Initial Idea 3

My final experiment that I created in photoshop was inspired by Christian Jackson's minimalist illustrations. Again I used an picture of a pair of shoes that I photographed, and traced around them. I scanned the drawing into Adobe Illustrator, and expanded the image so that the lines would be more neater and cleaner in appearance. For each section of the shoes I added different colours into the area making the image more illustrational like. I added a blue gradient colour into the bows, a grey/silver into the side of the shoes and then a darker grey into the shoes itself. I like this type of experiment because it is really simple and can transform any image you want to create into a great illustrational image.

  

iFontmaker Experiment

Above is my experiments with the iPad and the iFontmaker app. This app is useful to creating your own handmade type. How I achieved this font was by using my finger to create the letters of the alphabet (upper and lower case) on the iPad. I created my font by scratch so that meant not copying a typeface on the app. I really like this technique because you have created it yourself and you don't have to rely on a processed fonts. Also creating your own font can gain you more marks and it can be more personal. 

Initial Designers

Rowan Stocks-Moore 

Double Exposures

Rowan Stocks-Moore is an UK-based graphic designer that has really captured my eye with technique he has achieved by incorporating a double exposure as such into the poster/cover. He has create two scenes within one, as you look at this image you can see a silhouette of  a young boy, swinging on a tree branch. However as you look closer at the image you begin to see that the trees and the boy are apart of the tiger that is beginning to appear within the foreground. This creates the illusion of the double exposure effect. I really like this idea because of how effective it is to see two crucial characters of the story representing the whole story in just one image. Also the colours are quite simple and reflect the story of it being in the wild. I really like Stock-Moores work because of something so simple as creating a background that then becomes the foreground picture is really imaginative and different.     

Lynn Buckley 

Mixed Media

The next artist that I think would work well with my chosen books would be Lynn Buckley, who works with photographs and drawings in one image. American born Buckley works on creating book jackets for different covers working with different styles. I like how she has incorporated the mixture of art and photography into one. I also like the way that the title of the book is dividing the picture and the drawing apart so you can definitely define the two mediums apart. I like the typeface that has been used, because of the style that the font has been display. For example the edges of the letters are almost like they have been painted on, it gives the words a texture look. Another reason why I like this design is the contrast between the black and white photo and the boldness of the pop-up painting. You can see the definition in the painting, with the brush strokes giving the image more texture and more reason for you to be attracted towards it. The photograph is very much in focus with the models eyes and you are more drawn to them as you begin to take the whole image into account.        

Christian Jackson 

Illustrational Minimalist Objects

Christian Jackson is a designer who creates posters for different childhood stories with very minimalistic images. These images are very simple by grab your attention straight away, and you can tell what the story is about by the images. The one above is of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, even though it does not show a girl or three bears, the illustrations show one part of the story that everyone knows. The three bowls of porridge; too hot, too cold and just right, is one of the main parts of the book and by having this as the front cover, even with out the title of the novel on the cover, people would still be able to tell what the story is about. The text that has been used is very simple and bold, so it is readable for everyone to see. I like the use of colours that have been used, because they are suited to the story. Also there are only three colours so you are not really going to get distracted when you look at the cover. All in all I really like Jackson's work because it is very noticeable in the way that it catches your attention for being simple and not over the top, like other book jackets might be, for children's books.