Book Publishing
Project 2: Genre Switching
Objectives:
Examine the nuanced expectations for illustration work within book publishing. Use vector software to create polished, professional book covers.
Specifics:
Create three new illustrated book covers, all for the same book. Each new cover will be illustrated as to appeal to a specific genre/target audience. If you want, one of these covers can be a realistic alternate cover that fits the actual genre of the book, but at least 2 of the 3 covers must have a different genre/target audience than what the book was marketed as
For Example: If I picked Harry Potter, I would figure out the genre/intended audience of the book: it is a fantasy novel that is targeted to children/juvenile audiences. Then I'd have to create three covers that reimagine the Harry Potter book do one cover as a new version of sa Harry Potter
For Example: If I picked Harry Potter, I would figure out the genre/intended audience of the book: it is a fantasy novel that is targeted to children/juvenile audiences. Then I'd have to create three covers that reimagine the Harry Potter book do one cover as a new version of sa Harry Potter
Process:
1. Pick one book from the Goodreads "Best Books Ever" list. This list is determined by votes, not literature critics, so there should be a wide range of options. Please pick only something that you've actually read, or at the absolute least, watched the movie of:
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1.Best_Books_Ever
2. Research online to figure out the genre of your chosen book and the three different genres that you'd like to use for the alternate book covers.
Non-Exhaustive List of Book Genres: Action and Adventure, Children’s, Commercial Fiction, Crime, Erotica, Family Saga, Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, General Fiction, Graphic Novels, Manga, Historical Fiction, Horror, Humour, Literary Fiction, Military and Espionage, Mystery, Picture Books, Religious and Inspirational, Romance, Paranormal Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story Collections, Thrillers and Suspense, Western, Women’s Fiction, Young Adult, Juvenile, Memoirs, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Self-Help, Sports, Cookbooks, Comics, Classics, Chick Lit, Biographies, Anthologies, Satire, Alternative History, Detective Fiction, Media Tie-In (Buffy novels, etc,) Gothic Fiction, Folklore, Interactive (hyperlink or choose-your-own-adventure,) Magical Realism, Caper/Heist Novel, Christian Romance, Historical Romance, Dying Earth Science Fiction, Dystopian Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, True Crime, Psychological Thriller,
3. Keep researching online! You'll need to do research on the original genre of your book, and the three genres that you picked. Find out as much as you can about each of these genres such as information about the target audience demographic, any relevant sub-genres that your book belongs to, the cover art conventions of the genres that you're working with, etc. Find out what visual elements are widely assumed to appeal to readers of this type of book. How can you work with these expectations to create quality artwork that still reads as clearly your own personal style?
5. Create visuals of a decent enough quality that you could use them in a proposal meeting. This should include mock-up sketches of the three covers with details of exactly which element is going where. Along with the mock-up sketches, you will need to include a short description of the book and written explanations for each cover: The genre, the target audience demographic for this genre, this genre's specific expectations for cover art what colors, font, illustrations, etc. you're planning to use in order to fit the genre, and how each of these elements fits into the information you learned through your research. This writing can exist as a typed page, or as clear, easy to read notes on your drawings. If you are aware that you have messy handwriting, then consider going with the typed option. I'll meet with each of you briefly to check out your visuals, and you'll be posting them to the class blog in order to get comment-based feedback for people in the class.
6. Create your final artwork for the 3 separate covers. Make sure you work in CMYK because while ebooks have made it so a lot of people view cover artwork online, book covers still primarily exist as printed media.
dust jacket templates: http://www.selfpublishing.com/design/production-center/templates/
1. Pick one book from the Goodreads "Best Books Ever" list. This list is determined by votes, not literature critics, so there should be a wide range of options. Please pick only something that you've actually read, or at the absolute least, watched the movie of:
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1.Best_Books_Ever
2. Research online to figure out the genre of your chosen book and the three different genres that you'd like to use for the alternate book covers.
Non-Exhaustive List of Book Genres: Action and Adventure, Children’s, Commercial Fiction, Crime, Erotica, Family Saga, Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, General Fiction, Graphic Novels, Manga, Historical Fiction, Horror, Humour, Literary Fiction, Military and Espionage, Mystery, Picture Books, Religious and Inspirational, Romance, Paranormal Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story Collections, Thrillers and Suspense, Western, Women’s Fiction, Young Adult, Juvenile, Memoirs, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Self-Help, Sports, Cookbooks, Comics, Classics, Chick Lit, Biographies, Anthologies, Satire, Alternative History, Detective Fiction, Media Tie-In (Buffy novels, etc,) Gothic Fiction, Folklore, Interactive (hyperlink or choose-your-own-adventure,) Magical Realism, Caper/Heist Novel, Christian Romance, Historical Romance, Dying Earth Science Fiction, Dystopian Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, True Crime, Psychological Thriller,
3. Keep researching online! You'll need to do research on the original genre of your book, and the three genres that you picked. Find out as much as you can about each of these genres such as information about the target audience demographic, any relevant sub-genres that your book belongs to, the cover art conventions of the genres that you're working with, etc. Find out what visual elements are widely assumed to appeal to readers of this type of book. How can you work with these expectations to create quality artwork that still reads as clearly your own personal style?
5. Create visuals of a decent enough quality that you could use them in a proposal meeting. This should include mock-up sketches of the three covers with details of exactly which element is going where. Along with the mock-up sketches, you will need to include a short description of the book and written explanations for each cover: The genre, the target audience demographic for this genre, this genre's specific expectations for cover art what colors, font, illustrations, etc. you're planning to use in order to fit the genre, and how each of these elements fits into the information you learned through your research. This writing can exist as a typed page, or as clear, easy to read notes on your drawings. If you are aware that you have messy handwriting, then consider going with the typed option. I'll meet with each of you briefly to check out your visuals, and you'll be posting them to the class blog in order to get comment-based feedback for people in the class.
6. Create your final artwork for the 3 separate covers. Make sure you work in CMYK because while ebooks have made it so a lot of people view cover artwork online, book covers still primarily exist as printed media.
dust jacket templates: http://www.selfpublishing.com/design/production-center/templates/
Calendar:
- Thursday, February 6: Introduce Unit 2 with the Book Publishing Lecture. Do research and then begin work sketches.
- Tuesday, February 11: Lab Day. Research should be finished. Be ready to begin work sketches. Bring drawing supplies.
- Thursday, February 13: Lab Day. Visuals should be finished. Three work sketches due at the start of class. Work sketches need to be posted to the blog along with all the info that people will need to give you proper feedback. You’ll then be working in Illustrator.
- Tuesday, February 18: Lab day.
- Thursday, February 20: Critique
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