End of module evaluation

The BOOK!

What do I like? 

• I think printing on off-white paper has brought a degree of warmth to my images, which I think works quite well - as before they all looked too dull/cold and the paper seems to have brought them to life.  (although I wish I had also printed on some pure white paper to see the difference)
• I think the combination of patterns and images, especially in the upright landscape layout I selected, is really visually effective - as the two compliment each other and having pages of just patterns brings focus to the central images within the book. 
• Using the pattern pages as a place to put the text has also worked really well - I think the layout of having this above the illustrations makes the book very naturally easy to read and look at.
• The double page spread monoprints I think look really effective and bring the book around in a nice full circle. I feel that they also work well collectively with all the other images in the book, despite being made using entirely different process. 
• In terms of the tone of the book I think I have been able to create an atmosphere appropriate to the myths and legends I am illustrating - without demonising ravens (which is what I was looking to achieve).
• I think the narratives I selected are also interesting and engaging to read - as they are not common knowledge. 

What do I not like?

• There are just some small mistakes that I made during the printing and binding of the book that could use with fixing, just to make it look completely finished and clean-cut. 
• I wish I had made all the text fit perfectly onto 2 or 3 lines in order to avoid the awkward white spaces there are on the end of some sentences. 
• Not all the images I feel are completed to the same level of detail or crafting. If I had had more time I would have liked to maybe redo some of the images, adding more detail to bring them all to the same quality of crafting. 
• In the some of images I also struggled with finding an appropriate image to illustrate the particular myths or legends. I think they work well in combination with text, but without this aid I do not think people would be able to tell what they are about and this is perhaps a weakness in my work. 

Development of the title page

Initially for my title page I planned to use a monoprint I did featuring a single feather, with the title underneath in white.  However, even with adjusting the text I still feel that this just looks a bit naff and unprofessional. Also I think that starting with this page and going straight into a double page of more monoprint's with feathers would look a bit repetitive. 

I therefore went back to Jordan's suggestion of the actual title containing the texture of my feather monoprints. After experimenting with this using photoshop I really liked its simplicity, as well as the strength and drama of just having this on the front page. I think having a simple white cover also adds a clean-cut and professional look to the overall book - enticing the audience to look inside?

Monoprinting with leaves

I realised that my book was predominantly about a strong connection between ravens and nature - most of the myths and legends expressing some form of link between the two.  I am planning for the first inside pages to be a double page spread of my feather monoprints. Therefore to express this connection between the bird and nature, I though it would be appropriate to mirror these first pages with making some monoprints of leaves for the equivalent end inside pages. I really think this idea brings an overall narrative to the book and ties it all together quite nicely. Monoprinting with leaves also similarly worked as well as the feathers, creating some really interesting images full of texture.   

Development of text

I have been gradually developing the text that I would like for each page of my book. I decided that each sentence would start with 'A raven' to give continuity and would only be a number of lines. I wanted each bit of text to describe the facts of that particular myth or legend, but also flow nicely and have the tone of someone telling a story. I do not feel very confident with writing, but am I reasonably happy with the final result and how I have managed to condense each narrative. 

When I was putting the final patterns and text on indesign I used a serif font - Baskerville - as I thought this would match the tone of my book. I wrote the text over a slightly see-through box so that it would be legible, but not starkly noticeable against the pattern. When I printed this out, for a mock up, however I was very unhappy with the tone it gave my book. The text and box looked out of place and overly formal. 

After talking to Matt and a number of peers their suggestions were to change to a display font and make the white box full fill - to match the white spaces I had in other areas of the book. The idea was that a display font, like futura that I have used here, would make the text silent, and not add to or distract from the images. I think this is the right way to go and looks a lot more appropriate. 

Sizing

In these sketchbook pages I started to consider the sizing of my book. I have always enjoyed making  smaller books as I think this creates the idea of a more precious and delicate object - therefore I do not want it to be too big. On the other hand I do not want it too small either, as otherwise text becomes hard to read and the little details of images can be lost. After some planning I decided upon the size of a letter envelope - 16cm by 11.5cm. I think this is a good medium size and will work well the landscape layout of my book. 

Development of my final images on photoshop

I constructed my final images by making the individual components with cut paper, using simple shapes and textures that I had planned and experimented with beforehand. I then scanned all these in, edited and digitally collaged them using photoshop. I think this way of working was actually really effective because it allowed me to create each component at whatever size I liked - meaning I could add more detail and generally each bit turned out better crafted. Using photoshop was also very useful in adding more depth to my images - tools such as being able to play with the opacity of my layers helped to create perspective. 

Speaking to Jamie whilst I was making these images, he suggested that in order for these to work together  with my existing patterns I would need to adjust the levels to get greater contrasts. I did this and I think it has not only made them work better collectively, but also added more drama and in some a greater sense of perspective. I also took on his suggestion of decreasing the hue and saturation of each image to get rid of the yellow/sepia tones - if I wanted a warmth to my book printing off-white paper would be much better in achieving this, than using edits on photoshop.

Final patterns

These are the final patterns, made with ink and scanned into photoshop, that I have created to go above each image (on a double page spread). When creating each pattern I thought about how they could reflect or add to the narrative of the illustrations they were to be paired with - for example the pattern above is going to be paired with an illustration about how ravens can be known as the reincarnated beings of murdered people, I therefore used a circular pattern for this to reflect the ideas of reincarnation (obviously being cyclical itself). I think this consideration of how my ideas could be illustrated in these patterns has worked really well, and will work nicely along with the narratives of my book.  

More experimentation and planning for final images

I have been experimenting with creating a lot of different textures for my final images. I have been primarily using ink and decorator brushes, as well as white gouache paint on black paper. I think this media has been really effective in creating a range of different and interesting textures. The fact that they all follow this monotone colour palette will also work well to produce really harmonious images. 

I have also been trying to plan the composition of my final images, and so have been doing some sketches in the correct dimensions. I really like the range of compositions I am coming up with - I think having some as close-ups of ravens and others being more scenic, will help maintain interest throughout the book. 

 A way of roughing these images that I have found really effective is going beyond just doing a pencil sketch and doing some small mock-ups using texture and shape. I think this will really help me craft my final images to a high standard. I also really like the tone and sense of atmosphere I am achieving in these initial mock-ups.