Retrospect / VC Project: Symbols and Systems - Book Cover Series

The project brief was pretty simple: design a book cover series. I chose to do the science books since I wasn't bothered to go investigating into the other choice of travel novels. But I realised that even with the science range it could have benefited with further research into the distinction of each field of science. I think I got so caught up with finding a "style" that concept & communication was lacking.

At a glance it looks good as a series but when you stop to look at them there's too much going on and the rendering was certainly unrefined and underdeveloped (particularly chemistry and physics). Here I think my geology and astronomy one worked best but even so, the colour scheme is similar (so is the composition), so it would need more distinction between them. I struggled so much with chemistry and physics (funnily enough they were the sciences I did in highschool) namely because the concepts were more abstract than the rest. It probably would've been better to approach the series in a less literal manner - I certainly limited my conceptual creativity here! In terms of media here's where it really went wrong: initially I planned this to be a collage but because all image had to be our own I ended up pencil drawing most of the elements which altered the feel of the covers significantly but because time was running out I had reached a point of no return and had to go forth with it. Unfortunately I don't have my process work since I didn't manage to collect my folder in time.

Lessons Learning:

•  Thoroughly research the concept: Really understand and get to know the meat and bones of the subject
• Don't get caught up with "style": It's important to develop a visual language to communicate the subject rather than style. 
• Don't start late in the game: I only began gaining the momentum third of the way into the project which seriously hindered my progress. Mood boards really kick started me but this should have been done at the very beginning!
• Choose an appropriate medium: Not only in terms of communication but also timeframe wise - choose techniques which are appropriate to time frame. (I was so bogged down working on the renderings that it took away time to refine the composition, colour and printing)