![Sign[s] of the Times on Flickr.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m1oke635Or1qhe2cio1_500.jpg)
Sign[s] of the Times on Flickr.
Tales of The [F]arts
Artist. Painter.
Photographer.
Graphic Designer. Works with book and magazine publishers, dance and theatre companies, musicians, artists and Arts organisations.
Photographer.
Graphic Designer. Works with book and magazine publishers, dance and theatre companies, musicians, artists and Arts organisations.
. by etched acrylics on Flickr.
18
Hazel Motes, Wise Blood, Flannery O’Connor
He had a nose like a shrike’s bill and a long vertical crease on either side of his mouth; his hair looked as if it had been permanently flattened under the heavy hat, but his eyes were what held her attention longest. Their settings were so deep, to her, almost like passages leading somewhere and she leaned halfway across the space that separated the two seats, trying to see them….His face behind the windshield was sour and frog-like; it looked as if it had a shout closed up in it; it looked like one of those closet doors in gangster pictures where someone is tied to a chair behind it with a towel in his mouth…Hazel Motes’s face might have been cut out of the side of a rock.
Helen Mirren says, “Orange rubber gloves: for all your dirty work!”
Creative Process for Five Little Bitches
Five Little Bitches by Teresa McWhirter (due for publication by Anvil Press Spring 2012) is a book about the rise of a notorious all-girl party band. Contracted to design the book last year, I’ve worked on and off again with various cover options—all of which I might add, were thoroughly enjoyable to create. Below is an account of the creative process involved from forging ideas in book cover design.
Often there’s some generous deadlines with minor urgencies thrown in to keep things rolling. This was the case in working through an immediate concept for Brian K, the publisher at Anvil Press. With Five Little Bitches 6-8 months away from publishing, Anvil needed some cover art for catalogues and publicity to pique some interest (promo…publicity…altogether another topic). With a general synopsis in hand, some notes from Brian and Teresa provided, and a few of my own questions answered regarding the aesthetic in mind, I jumped into gathering materials.
When I start designing, certain key elements are in the forefront: type style, image, colour/tones. In this case, I wanted to use either a hand-type or call up one of my vintage type books and re-draw it. I also considered how texture could be incorporated, especially a distressed surface. The first draft was for me—only to determine if I could work with what I’ve created: some type, tones, textures and graphic play.
The next stage was adding some options with imagery. I’m usually my own resource and stock photo agent, so I dove into my archives to find suitable images. Having been a rock photographer in another lifetime made me zero in there. The first option was an image I shot of Don Pyle’s sparkling pink drum kit. The other, and a more treated photograph, was from a 1988 Butthole Surfers concert I shot. Neither have the typeface I used in my first personal draft, but use an alternate I thought better suited with the images:
Both were met positively by author and publisher but lacked the feeling that this is an all-girl band. So without hesitating, I placed an ad for a model who might be interested in being on a book cover. A trade-for-print arrangement so she gets portfolio images and I get a model, the wonderful Ruby Dagger appeared for an evening of alley shooting. We came up with some great shots, and though some excellent options, there were four Little Bitches missing from the pictures:
Poor Ruby, poor me…back to the drawing board…
By now, I’d called up the original type from draft #1 and started throwing it in the mix. With the next set of options, I found this type worked better than the previous one so I stuck with it. Bringing back the Butthole Surfers shot and diffusing some discussion on whether the band is recognizable or the overall lack of band members in the shot, I moved forward with Round 4 and played with tones and mixing the type around:
“What? You don’t like the colours? How about this…” I asked (while sneaking in a repeat of the same cover in hopes that it will be selected merely because it seemed overlooked last time):
Well, thank goodness for Christmas holidays and all the hubbub that goes along with distracting us from tasks at hand. Even I forgot where we left off in November so when Brian asked for an update in January, I called up the last set of drafts. By this time, the artwork was out of my head, time had passed, and I reviewed it with fresh eyes (always a good argument to not rush design projects). Both Brian and Teresa came back at me feeling that something was missing. I was thinking the same thing. An empty stage, a flipped-over beer cup…where’s the action? Combing through the rock photo archives again, I found it:
Always aware these fine folks of my past have to be made anonymous by some means for the purpose of plastering them on a book cover completely unrelated to them, I chose two shots of two different moods to convey what the Five Little Bitches are all about. The first one hit the mark, while that second option was a wee bit tame for their liking. My little 5LB starburst wasn’t going to fly either, so in removing that and adding A Novel by… we are now on our way!
Of course, there’s still the rest of the book to do now! More on all of that later…
Bird #04 on Flickr.
