The Big Sleep previous covers

i began by researching previous big sleep covers ( not all of them are from the 1930/40s era) but i wanted to see what other people had taken from the book and how they had translated aspects from the book graphically.
 First book cover by Rhys Morgan- graphic designer
The design abover is one of my favourite big sleep covers, i like the containment of the design the framing of the droplet elucidates shape which is futher enhanced by the monochrome colour scheme. the text is very reminicient of the art deco era which emulates the period of the novel. its simiplicity is what makes it visually effective- its uncomplicated and revolves around shape.
http://designatatrium.co.uk/designer_portfolio_project.asp?ID=219&PROJECT_ID=1825

 

i think that this design as a lot of potential i like the manipulation of silhoettes which once again emphasises shape and although the detective hat gun is a little cliche it is a fun modern interpretation. however i  greatly dislike the typography used which looks too much like bubble writing to be effective  and whilsti do like the clever intergration of the gun within the sleep the text itself does nothing to reference the novel. the black and yellow colour scheme provokes contrast and initiates drama but i dont like the reddish brown used on the back which detracts from the dark block front cover. when i begin designing i plan to introduce some more subtler aspects which reference the book without falling prey to the stereotypes.

 

http://www.behance.net/gallery/The-Big-Sleep-Book-Cover/3796685

the book cover above has a very art deco retro feel about it and i love the angularity present which gives an origionality to the cliche scence of the detective. the two colours keep the design simple and understandable and i really like how jaunty angles have been manipulated on the back to continue the 'square theme'.  the bold but thinner font fully displays the title simultaneously ensuring the designs continuity. however i think it would have been better to create a design that depicted a scene from the book in this style because although the detectives portrayal is unusual and effective the overall design doesnt fully emulate the novel.

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Book-Cover-design-The-Big-Sleep/5440223

This design promotes the femme fatal aspect within the book which hasnt been present in any of the other covers researched. because its a modern representation the shapes are very clean and theres a lot of manipulation of block fill colours which once again introduces a simplicity. the wisps of smoke directs the eye to the title, the font fits perfectly ito the design and the deco feel. the red of the blood is futher stipulated on the author name and contrasts with the blue of the shirt and skin. the blue intergrates a sense of mystery and helps to seperate the foreground figure from the predominatly black background. 
http://dansippleblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/big-sleep.html

out of all of the modern reinterpretations of the book cover this is by far my favourite, the cartoon style of the cover looks dramatic and i really like the textural shading evident within the background which frames the figure. red and greys keep the design simple and and help to segment the cover into 4 sections, the long continuous strip of red offsets the name directing the eye across to the back of the book and the red eyes which reference any one of the femme fatal characters within the novel. the comic book style has given the cliche detective pose an origionality the hand drawn style  references the covers in the 40s whilst the black outline initiates moderninity.

its interesting to see what other people have taken from the big sleep and i want to make sure i avoid the obvious cliches in my own design- i definatly think its key to create a cover based around a certain scene of character to really display what the book is about.



 

 

The Big Sleep initial themes and thoughts

so far im pretty settled on the big sleep as a book its a lot darker and more intresting than the wind and the willows and i would prefer to work with something thats less familiar in order to generate some more origional ideas.

some of the themes within The Big Sleep which should be considered when designing.

orchids ( seem to appear a lot within the book link to to death/ the cynical endings perspective)

cigerettes- part of the era/social norms smoke in particular might make a good design aspect

Rain- the weather seems to be synonmous with character Marlowes mood throughout the book. perhaps it is also a comment on the society- the city is being drowned in corruption ( corruption of the rich, the poor the police and even the female characters)

blackmail/gambling/ alcohol- emphasises the corrupt 'seedy city'. one of the main sisters Vivian plays roulette which could also make an intresting design.

femme fatal characters- all the women are apparently dangerous within this novel, they all attempt to use their own sexual power to manipulate Marlowe. and whilst Marlowe is attracted to all of them he does not allow himself to be seduced and even attempts to seduce one of the Sternwood sisters for information.

vivian- calculating/ clever and seemingly elegant contrast to carmen

Carmen - animalistic ( could make for some intresting visual aspects) this animilistic quality contained within her movements could symbolize  primal desire which the mystery revolves around, it could also highlight the theme of corruption which is instigated by this human desire. could be caused by drugs its not really clear if she as a character is crazy or if its something else. she also seems to be naked a lot througout the story which again links to her animal nature and the concept of primal desire.

Agnes- silver nails/ tough girl grifter

Silverwig/ Mrs Eddie Mars- curved, beautiful ruthless Marlowe takes a liking to her.

Out of all of the women Carmen appears more within the books and there are far more very striking events pertaining to her that would translate well visually. ( sitting in the chair in nothing but her jade earrings, pushing Brody into her room with a revolver, lying naked predatorially in Marlowes bed etc)

 the police/ the gangsters-  by assosciation guns,footprints and body marks

the car being dragged out of the pier- a chapter in the book which stands out in my head and would make something visually striking (possible backdrop).

chess is referenced once but it relates well to the story as a whole the mystery itself is a clever and brutal game;
"this was not a game for knights" a cynical reference to the morality of various characters. the embodiment of morality marlowe who ironically enough is the only 'knight' within the novel.

poison- the poison of the blood which is elucidated through the Sternwoods, and the literal poison of cyanide which kills of one of the characters.

dead birds- in relation to snitches.

definate theme of madness- most of the women within the story are somewhat crazy and this theme of madness appears to be synonymous with sex ( the concept of human desire being primal and destructive is further stipulated by this).

im not entirely sure what im going to work with but there are a lot of themes within the book and i would like to try and find something that embodies the world of the story without being cliche and unorigional. smaller aspects ( like the orchid or the jade earrings) could be placed on the spine or used without being overpowering.

Book Cover Brief

 to create a book cover - to the penguin design award requirements using illustrator, photoshop and in design.
adapt this design to generate an a2 poster advertising the relaunch of the chosen book
produce a written statement 500-1000 words referring to semiotics
we are also required to generate a branding guideline for both the book cover and the poster.

Penguin design award brief: The Big Sleep
 looking for an original striking cover design avoiding obvious cliches to entice a new generation of readers. it will have to contain an imaginative concept and appeal to a contemporary audience of both men and women.

Penguin design award: The wind in the willows
again looking for originality but since the wind and the willows is more well known the key to this book cover design is reinvention to incorporate a contemporary twist to the classic. although the target audience of this book is children it should also appeal to an adult audience.

initially just from reading the briefs i'm drawn to The Big Sleep, i think it will be easier to generate more original ideas and concepts than it will for the wind and the willows and i am immediately smitten with the detective genre.

The final

this is my final poster i've moved the black lines round the outside of the art board and i've changed the "f" from the facebook logo to just the facebook f which i think makes it easier to read (i did like the integration of the logo but i didn't think it needed it and the others had trouble understanding it). i did try to move the line of the slogan at the bottom but unfortunately whenever i attempted to change this aspect it affected the other aspects of the design and i didn't think it was really worth the time or the stress since i don't think that its that noticeable. i found an orange circle lining the outer edge so i deleted that which just makes the design a bit cleaner.
the main thing i've learnt about illustrator that i need to employ in future projects is grouping my lines and separating my layers ( it'll mean that i've got more organisation to my objects and it'll be a lot easier when editing). i tried to play to my strengths in illustrator (layering up brush strokes to generate shading and texture) and i feel the techniques i've used are very simple, effective, but ultimately simple because of this next time i use the software i plan on trying to expand the range of tools that i use in order to develop more of an understanding, although since its the first time i've used illustrator i am impressed with what i've created.
Despite these issues, i am really proud of what i have achieved, keeping everything simple and making sure nothing was overpowering was the key to my design and i'm glad i managed it because i think my poster (in accordance to the brief) has successfully combined the facebook aspect with the spanish propaganda posters . i've really enjoyed the project as a whole i especially liked the design process and how my design on paper has translated into illustrator. if i had more time i would like to have created a second poster featuring the same square character, initially i had a lot of design ideas and it would have been nice to explore those as well.

critique response

The poster above is the poster that i presented for the crit, i got a lot of positive comments and the aspect seemed clear, two changes were suggested;  to make the slogan edge parallel to the block rectangle on the shield and to alter the "f" in the "rifts" so that it was clearer and more readable. i agreed with both points so i definitely want to try and change them on the final poster. altering the f will be easy but i may have some issues trying to make the edge of rifts because i have not been very careful in creating and labelling new layers. thankfully i don't think that this is too much of an issue so if i cant figure out how to change it i'm not worried. i noticed myself that i had a few lines along the very edge of the poster ( when i had to make it a live paint i had to box the edges in order to fill the outer bits) so i also  need to drag these visible lines of to the edge of the art board. despite these small changes im really happy with it - i did ask my peers if anything needed to be done on the buildings but they didn't feel anything needed to be added and i agree i've successfully balanced texture with fill colours so i think anything more would be too overpowering.

Little details

i liked the chalk outline so much on the outer circles i wanted to introduce a small amount within my acutal poster i thought the block symbol was ideal since the line is so harsh and needs to be softened so i applied the brush to the shape on a new layer. i think its really effective since it breaks up some of the smooth background texture and simulatneously fattens the line.

because i thought the chalk line was really effective on the main rectangle i wanted to also hint at it in some of the background softening the outer lines of the silhouettes was perfect becuase they were a little too angular and were again basic shapes so i didnt have to worry about intefering with small details.

I also added a chalk low light along the curve of my shield just because it looked a little bare im not entirely sure if its needed though so i might ask my peers for an opinion when i present my poster.

i felt my rays looked bare as well so i introduced some scroll brush stokes along the centre line i didnt want it to be overpowering so i gradually made the stokes smaller. overall it just initiated a touch of texture which i think it needed in order to ensure my posters textural continuity.

id played around with the block symbol and decided to place them in some of the windows just to see how they would look. im still not sure on them but the buildings definatly need something so again i think im going to ask for opinions when i present.

 

Circles round the outer edge

i knew that i wanted to soften the outer edge of my main circle espescially since the design was contained within the white of the page and felt that it would look too bland if i just left it. softening the edges would simultaneously introduce a little texture around the outer edge which would contrast again the fill of the circle.
i created a layer which i placed at the bottom and used the elliptical tool to create two circles slightly larger than the main one. i then applied the chalk brush  to each ( a brush style i really liked and felt would be a bolder dappled texture than previously used) and created a light blue ring and a grey. origionally i had planned to just use grey but i thought that there wasnt enough of the blue tone in the poster which would be an ideal contrast to the thick fill of orange.

rings with basic fill- i think it looks really good - has also reminded me that i need to fill the bottom of the buildings with the darker grey since i think that theres more of a contrast with the darker tone.