Book is about re-evaluation of Atlantic-Canadian literature. The region is no longer a marginal place stranded outside of time. I thought it would be interesting to show Anne of Green Gables with unruly hair.
The general feeling was that the previous cover was to monochromatic so i punched it up a bit.
I was given a raft of photographs to choose from for this cover and the image below caught my attention. I decided to zero in on just the propeller to make the the cover bold and graphic. The propeller very subtly alludes to maple seeds with their helicopter blades - I might be the only one that sees this but it did occur to me. Type still needs to be finessed a bit more.
I was given a raft of photographs to choose from for this cover and the image below caught my attention. I decided to zero in on just the propeller to make the the cover bold and graphic. The propeller very subtly alludes to maple seeds with their helicopter blades - I might be the only one that sees this but it did occur to me. Type still needs to be finessed a bit more.
I never presented this direction for this cover partly because it uses the work of Robert Therrien and I wasn't sure we could get permission to use it. I seriously considered painting my own red cupboard with red products in it, but realized it wasn't really feasible. From the brief: the book analyzes the RED campaign as a primary example of "compassionate consumption" campaigns, where consumers are urged to buy things to help support various causes. The people who are helped by such campaigns are sold as goods to make Western consumers feel good about themselves.
In the end I went in another direction that will still require a couple of cans of red paint and a willing victim.
In the end I went in another direction that will still require a couple of cans of red paint and a willing victim.
Blindfold
Work in progress.
A book of poetry from a blind poet. I am going with the first option with embossing used on the letterforms under the cloth.
A book of poetry from a blind poet. I am going with the first option with embossing used on the letterforms under the cloth.
Journal design
This is a redesign for The Journal of the International Society for the History of Philosophy of Science. I went for a type only solution with a colour/graphic variable that would distinguish each issue.
Graphic Design Solutions
Robin Landa
Great book! It is the best book out there on design and the design process. Josh Chen from Chen Design Associates did a really great cover and interior design.
Great book! It is the best book out there on design and the design process. Josh Chen from Chen Design Associates did a really great cover and interior design.
Communication Arts Design Annual 2010
Kinda cool. Red Squrrel logo got into the CA Design Annual this year.
A book within a book. From the brief: SylviaWeisler is under contract with a small publisher to write a non-fiction book about personals advertising. . She focuses on the middle-aged and older group who utilize print media rather than on the “too vast territory” of twenty-somethings and the Internet. Some of the characters remain interviewees—material for Sylvia’s book; others, however, enter the author’s private life and become enmeshed in the plot.
From the brief continued: "There is a character in the book called Gladwell Alcox, a spoof of Malcolm Gladwell. We thought we should play this up on the cover, as if the book were a non-fiction book on the writing of personals. We saw a banner running across the bottom corner saying something like 'With a Foreword by Gladwell Alcox' or 'Foreword by Gladwell Alcox'
Sometimes I really like getting a clear directive and then seeing what I can do with it. I know I have said this before but I also like taking a hackneyed visual symbol like an arrow through a heart and seeing if there could still be a new way of doing it.
This cover took more than a couple of attempts to get it finalized. The first concept made it into the catalogue with reservations from the authors. The second was good to go right up until the cover was about to be sent to printer when it hit a snag as well. I had to come up with something new right away and thought this could work. I went with a strictly graphic approach but it wasn't coming together. Adding the shadows made it come to life as well as the gloss lamination which gives it a bit of extra punch.
The Maple Leaf
I have done so many covers over the years that deal with Canada as subject matter. It runs the gamut and covers issues such as federalism, foreign policy, native peoples, the courts, language rights and human rights. Each time I sit down with the brief I ask the same question. Is there a way to use the maple leaf in a new way?
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