RESEARCHING AND DEVELOPING IDEAS

Project brief

Your brief is to design a stunning and contemporary cover for one of the 20th century’s most acclaimed authors, HG Wells. Known mostly for his science fiction writing, HG Wells also wrote social novels that are still relevant today, covering topics such as the mid-life crisis, class, feminism, materialism, consumerism and love. Your challenge is to create cover designs for three of his books that work as a set and establish the books as timeless fiction. The books will be published in a paperback format and need to include the title, author’s name, publisher's name and trademark. You only need to design the front cover and spine.

Research

H.G. Wells

Known for his literary works, Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 - 13 August 1946) was an English writer. His writings comprised fifty novels and many short stories. Numerous genres were characterised in his writings. Socio--political commentary, history, popular science, satire, biography and autobiography were included in his non-fiction works. His science fiction novels are often referred to as the "father of science fiction" in the modern time (Wikipedia, 2022a).

Fig.1 Portrait of Herbert George Wells (1920)

My research was to first find out about the author H.G. Wells and his books. I have never read any of his works of fiction as science fiction is not my first choice of genre to read. I started with You Tube and found this video documentary produced by the BBC to give me some more insight to the kind of author he was.

(Future tense - The story of H.G. Wells BBC documentary, 2016)

As I delved deeper into the author H.G. Wells, I started to research titles of his novels.

List of Novels written by H.G. Wells taken from (Wikipedia, 2022b).

· The Time Machine (1895). Fragments from the serial form in The New Review which were generally excluded in the book version can be found in the anthology edited by Philmus, 1975, as can the untitled version published in seven instalments in the National Observer 17 March – 23 June 1984.

· The Wonderful Visit (1895)

· The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896)

· The Wheels of Chance (1896)

· The Invisible Man (1897)

· The War of the Worlds (1898)

· When the Sleeper Wakes (1899)

· Love and Mr Lewisham (1900)

· The First Men in the Moon (1901)

· The Sea Lady (1902)

· The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth (1904)

· Kipps (1905)

· A Modern Utopia (1905)

· In the Days of the Comet (1906)

· The War in the Air (1908)

· Tono-Bungay (1909)

· Ann Veronica (1909)

· The History of Mr Polly (1910)

· The Sleeper Awakes (1910) – revised edition of When the Sleeper Wakes (1899)

· The New Machiavelli (1911)

· Marriage (1912)

· The Passionate Friends (1913)

· The Wife of Sir Isaac Harman (1914)

· The World Set Free (1914)

· Bealby: A Holiday (1915)

· Boon (1915) (as Reginald Bliss)

· The Research Magnificent (1915)

· Mr Britling Sees It Through (1916)

· The Soul of a Bishop (1917)

· Joan and Peter: The Story of an Education (1918)

· The Undying Fire (1919)

· The Secret Places of the Heart (1922)

· Men Like Gods (1923)

· The Dream (1924)

· Christina Alberta's Father (1925)

· The World of William Clissold (1926)

· Meanwhile (1927)

· Mr. Blettsworthy on Rampole Island (1928)

· The Autocracy of Mr. Parham (1930)

· The Bulpington of Blup (1932)

· The Shape of Things to Come (1933)

· The Croquet Player (1936)

· Brynhild (1937)

· Star Begotten (1937)

· The Camford Visitation (1937), novella

· Apropos of Dolores (1938)

· The Brothers (1938)

· The Holy Terror (1939)

· Babes in the Darkling Wood (1940)

· All Aboard for Ararat (1940)

· You Can't Be Too Careful (1941)

I started with five titles that my mind was drawn to straight away, which gave me instant ideas and inspiration, I started to quickly brainstorm keywords in my sketchbook (See Fig. 2).

Fig. 2 Brainstorming HG Wells books (2022)

I decided to explore further the following titles, "The Island of Dr. Moreau", "The Invisible Man" and

"The Door in the Wall", simply because more images and ideas were coming into my mind. Click on the images below to see a more detailed brainstorming compilation for each title.

Fig. 3 Brainstorming for The door in the wall (2022)

Fig. 4 Brainstorming for The invisible man (2022)

Fig. 5 Brainstorming for the The island of Dr Moreau (2022)

As I researched further, I was getting a sense of bright colours and the urge to using neon. Neon seems to be used frequently for dystopian, science fiction, futuristic movies and book covers. I started to look at previous book covers of H.G. Wells and his books. The covers below concentrate more on the typography than an image as the focus, but with the use of bright colours and patterns in the background.

Fig. 6 H.G. Wells Book covers (2022)

When looking at Penguin books, I specifically came across a silkscreen artist called Kate Gibb who was commissioned to design covers for 15 of H.G. Wells' books. (Penguin redesigns: H.G Wells novels, 2004). Her covers are also bold and futuristic-looking. Her focus is more on the image and not the typography. See some of her book covers below (See Fig. 3).

Fig. 7 Big Active (2022)

After looking at her covers for Penguin books, I looked at her website to see other works by Kate Gibb. These pictures inspired me to use bolder colours for my book covers and overlay images. Her works are bright and had textural patterns across them.

Fig. 8 Kate Gibb (2022)

I was getting more inspired with the bold and bright colours. Neon was still forefront in my mind. I looked back to see how bright colours and neon was used, as this was a design trend in the 1960s. I came across this poster from 1966 called "'The Endless Summer" by John Van Hamersveld (See Fig.9). This poster is simple and concentrates on the bright colours.

Fig. 9 John Van Hamersveld (1966)

Sketchbooks

I went to my sketchbook and played with bright pastels and circles to get an effect for the background for the three titles I wanted to develop.

"A solid fluorescent color will add visual presence to a project. It is unapologetically confident and clear." (Adams 2017b:237)

I used pastels to experiment with bright colours like purples and pinks. I wanted to create a mesmerising effect, to make the background more modern. I used a combination of blending the pastels, using heavy hard lines and softer light lines. I want to use this idea for the background of "The Invisible Man" cover.

Fig. 10 Purple pastels (2022)

I want the book covers to follow the same theme as a series. This time I'm using greens to create the effect for the book cover "The Island of Dr. Moreau". I used the same blending technique, heavy and light lines for the background and inspiration for the book cover.

Fig. 11 Green pastels (2022)

Close ups of the pastel work in my sketchbook below.

Fig. 11 Green pastels (2022) Fig. 10 Purple pastels (2022)

I wanted to use a brighter medium to get the effect I was looking for and experimented with neon colour pens on black paper, using bright pinks, purples and greens. I drew around a circular object and added in my own lines freehand. I hoped that this method would make the colours "pop" off the page. The green colour is usually used for more serene feelings, but the neon green is intentionally irritating on the eye and I wanted it to signify warning and danger.

In the pink neon I want to use this for "The Invisible Man" cover. I think purples show power, mysticism and magic. The pink shows dramatic energy and femininity.

Fig. 12 Neon circles (2022)

Fig. 12 Neon circles (2022) Close ups of the neon work from my sketchbook.

I started to look further than just sketching in my book and saw some inspiration with water and food colouring so it's more visual. Designers should actively seek inspiration for their work in various locations, even in their respective cities. Objects within their studio can also inspire them. A design decision can be affected by these influences. A designer's environment should be filled with interesting objects, pictures, posters, and other stimuli to inspire them constantly (Ambrose, Harris and Ball, 2019).

I then experimented with food colorings in a vase of water for a more "floaty" effect and took photos.

Fig. 13 Food colouring in water (2022)

I went to digital on Adobe Photoshop and experimented with futuristic brushes. This was the effect I was looking for. I want to use this effect to overlay my photos for the covers. This futuristic brush and neon colour will run through the series of books.

Fig. 14 Futuristic brushes in Photoshop (2022)

"The Invisible Man" book cover

I didn’t want to design the clichéd version of "The Invisible Man" with the usual bandages. I felt it has been overdone and wanted to do something that was more modern. With more lateral thinking, I decided to go all-out with this book cover.

I watched the recent movie adaptation of ""The Invisible Man" ("The Invisible Man", 2020) and although movie adaptations of books are not always similar, I did like the concept that this version of the movie was dark, and the invisible man was trying to get into his partner's head. I wanted to design a cover from the woman’s point of view. Always being watched and on surveillance where she had no power or control and she couldn't see the invisible man. This intrigued me. The fact that the invisible man could do whatever he liked showed immorality and there were no consequences to his actions. I felt this was also relevant as gender-based violence is prevalent in South Africa and is very much at the forefront of issues faced currently.

I researched the psychology of purple as a colour and came across this table. The keywords that stood out for me were: madness, cruelty, mysticism and imagination.

Fig. 15 Table to show effects of the colour purple (2017b)

I put together a moodboard of colours, neons, other posters, artworks and strip factual mirror effects used in other projects. (Click on the image below to explore further).

Fig. 16 The invisible man mood board (2022)

I started playing with double exposure effects in Adobe Photoshop, although it gave an eerie effect, it wasn't showing enough torment. I wasn’t happy with the direction and decided to use this effect and technique for another H.G. Wells title "The Island of Dr. Moreau".

Fig. 17 Pretty Woman Portrait (2022) Fig.18 Horror Halloween concept (2022)

I wanted to experiment with something more dramatic and started looking for stock photos of women that would fit the emotion I was looking for: a woman at the end of her tether and starting to go out of her mind. I was now thinking that if this woman is feeling like she is going out of her mind I needed to find a photo that showed more expression, anger and frustration. I decided to go with the second stock photo from the series.

Fig.19 Screaming Woman On Black Background (2022)

I wanted to find the psychedelic colour from my sketchbooks for the emotion. Purples and pinks were coming to mind, to keep the feminine feel, but also for the dark striking feeling with the black background. In Adobe Photoshop I used filters to create a contrast between the neon and bright effect I wanted.

Fig. 20 Photoshop neon effect (2022)

I wanted to take it one step further and show even more of the torment and created a strip fractal mirror effect for the feeling of being watched from different angles. As I created in my moodboard, I wanted to risk the use of neon colours for a dramatic and modern effect, but chose not feature the invisible man to make it more up-to-date.

In the picture below I used my sketchbook to cut up two copies of the same photo and try the strip fractal mirror effect before I tried it digitally.

Fig. 21 Cut out of fractal mirror effect (2022)

Designing layouts and publications in a similar way can be inspired by the speediness and striking image sequences of motion pictures (Ambrose, Harris and Ball, 2019).

Many books now feature the movie poster elements on their covers. Since the movie is loosely based on "The Invisible Man" novel, I decided to use elements from the latest movie rather than directly from the novel. I do feel it’s a risk but also felt that if I didn't take a chance to be different I would end up with the clichéd versions from past book covers.

Below are photos of book covers that were made into movies. The covers feature images from the movies.

Fig.22 Past book covers, now movies (2022)

Final cover - "The Invisible Man"

Fig. 23 Spine design - The invisible man (2022)

Fig. 24 Front cover - The invisible man (2022)

Fig. 25 Spine and cover book mock-up (2022)

"The Island of Dr. Moreau" book cover

For this cover I still wanted to carry through the bright neon theme into the background, this time in green. The keywords from this table were: Greed, Envy, Nature, Poison.

I decided that for this cover the double exposure effect that I tried with ""The Invisible Man" cover was better suited to "The Island of Dr. Moreau".

Fig. 26 Table to show effects of the colour green (2017a)

I created a moodboard like I did for "The Invisible Man", collecting toxic green colours and photos to try the double exposure effect. Click on the image to explore more.

Fig. 27 Moodboard - The island of Dr. Moreau (2022)

I found stock photos and thought the leopard and older man would work perfectly as a double exposure effect in Adobe Photoshop. I was attracted to the leopard as one of the characters in the book. The two photos were almost a perfect fit to symbolise the merging of human and animal in the book.

Once I merged the two photos together, I removed the background and replaced it with a black background to add the neon green futuristic brush effect on top. The added green represents the jungle on the island. The bright green represents a toxic look representing the experiments, but the theme of bright colours and line effects still carries through the series of book covers.

Fig. 28 Brown and Black Leopard Animal (2010) Fig. 29 Grayscale Portrait of an Elderly Man (2021) Fig. 30 Double exposure - Dr Moreau (2022)

Final cover - "The Island of Dr. Moreau"

Fig. 31 Spine design - The island of Dr. Moreau (2022)

Fig. 32 Front cover - The island of Dr Moreau (2022)

Fig. 33 Spine and cover book mock-ups The island of Dr Moreau (2022)

"The door in the wall" book cover

For this cover I couldn't decide which style of door I wanted. The book describes a green door in a white wall. On my moodboard I tried the different doors and none of them really worked with the bright neon colours I was looking for. Click on the image to explore further.

Fig. 34 Moodboard for the door in the wall (2022)

While on holiday I was looking for doors that might give me some inspiration and took this photo below. (See Fig. 35)

Although there isn't a door you can still see though to the world on the other side. I changed course slightly and found a stock photo that didn't have a door but I thought the dark wall would highlight my bright neon theme against the dark background. I continued to use the neon theme that was running though the series of books. I decided to add the neon to the outline of the door-frame. I created a neon effect in Adobe Photoshop.

Fig. 35 Path to the beach house (2022) Fig.36 Grey Concrete Wall (2019)

I used neon green for the door-frame outline. Through the door you can see a chair. I used my Wacom tablet to draw over the chair in a gold colour to make it stand out and make the overall look more magical. I used a subtle futuristic brush effect to allow the neon door outline stand out without adding too much to the overall design.

Final cover - "The door in the wall"

Fig. 37 Spine design - The door in the wall (2022)

Fig. 38 Front cover - The door in the wall (2022)

Fig. 39 Spine and cover book mock-up, The door in the wall (2022)

Reflection

I have really enjoyed this exercise, researching and developing my ideas further. I think that I spent far too much time on this exercise! I liked the challenge of using a theme that is quite different and felt that I did perhaps take a risk using neon and bright colours. Looking back now I also think that I took a huge risk with "The Invisible Man" cover using the woman instead of the invisible man. I really wanted to do something different and to look at the brief from a different angle.

I could have perhaps used typography, but as the brief was about vintage books, I wanted to concentrate more on the image. The exercise was good to develop my computer skills in Adobe Photoshop. I undertook online tutorials to create the fractal mirror effect, filters and playing with photoshop layers.

I did use a number of free stock photos and in hindsight could have taken my own photos which would have been just as effective and more unique to my work.

RESEARCHING AND DEVELOPING IDEAS - Book Cover Design