Master Post of Finished Pages

Book Jacket Revisions

With my first two book jacket mock ups I tried to match the aesthetic set by the cover and contents page. Rae had suggested that I take the aperture logo from my very first cover page design and mimic one of the example books in the room with a larger version of it in the top left corner of the cover. I think it's pretty successful in mimicking that specific cover but it's also pretty dull and I ended up not using that version of the cover anyway. 

For the second I took it a new direction and combined strips of photos by all the photographers in the book. This is a cover I like much better because it is more eye catching and keeps the viewer's attention for longer after they pick it up. However, including my biography on the book jacket looks very awkward with this design. That is an issue I knew I needed to flush out in my next version.

For my final book jacket I took the second design and reworked it to be more interesting. In critique, Margie pointed out that I should fix the hierarchy and lengthen the photo strips to direct the viewer's eye more successfully around the page. She also suggested I take the red from my cover page and change the grey background to make it pop more. We also decided I would move the title farther away from the bottom and corner so that there was no risk of it being folded onto the wrong part of the book. Finally, I fixed the line dividing the page, making it back and smaller. I need it because the values of the black and white photos were very different and without that unifying line it looked a bit disjointed.
To fix the awkwardness with the bio on the book jacket I just decided to create a separate author page all together, mimicking the style from the contents page. In class Margie and I also decided that I should move the references to a separate page all together.

Final Refined Cover/Contents Pages and Book Binding

After what seemed like endless rounds of revising various page spreads, I've finished my cover and contents spreads. I chose to continue working with the minimalist design and straightforward layout and I feel like it works will with my personal page designs.

At first I definitely didn't understand why we were creating a full practice book, it seemed like a waste of time. But going through it step by step with the class turned out to be insanely helpful. I couldn't have done this for the first time, on my final project, all by myself. I'm SO glad we did this!

And I got to use it as a Mother's Day gift ;) 

Possible Cover/Table of Contents Spreads

On Tuesday we'll be turning in 3 versions of both the cover page and table of contents. I'm having a hard time sticking to my chosen, minimalist, aesthetic and keeping everything creatively interesting. I have two versions done so far and I could use some inspiration!

Two Refined Page Spreads

The comments I received on my original page spreads were essentially that they were uncreative and boring. I chose to add in more unique design elements the second time around as well as attempt to fit additional photos in the limited amount of space we were given.

Original Three Spread Designs

Chosen Designer: Diane Arbus

I chose Diane Arbus as my designer because I am drawn to her photojournalistic style and street photography.