Judge a Book - Roughs Feedback Reflection

Book: Feral by George Monbiot

Central themes/motifs/feelings communicated in roughs:

• Relationship between nature and human's industrial & environmentally-damaging lives,
• Both sides having ability to take over and overcome the other, there's a conflict and subtle tension between the two,
• concept that nature can flourish when humans are taken out of picture (when the book is closed, the front and back covers are separate)

Main feedback points from crit:

• Work on fish idea, further link front and back covers, prompting viewer to turn over book to see the back as well,
• reconsider perspective and view point of dead fish on front cover to convey concept better,
• revise type layout, hierarchy of importance within typography.

Initial feelings/responses in relation to feedback:

• Mostly positive and interesting, hearing other's interpretations of work,
• helpful hearing small ideas and techniques to further push and improve work I hadn't previously considered or thought of,
• Agreed with most of everything that was said, taken away steps to push work in a more effective direction,
• not altered direction entirely, just pointers and tips to rework into existing roughs to improve.

Responses to feedback:

Materials/Media/Process - 

• Experiment with colouring of fish to portray dead vs. alive concept,
• try collaging fish images onto an analogue background, compare that to a digital layering,
• try digital techniques to create underwater look, using scanned in tissue/watercolour paper.

Composition/layout/typography - 

• Explore typography, reflect on decisions made, why drawing each letter in a certain way,
• rework composition of fish rough to ensure an effective flow between dead and alive fish, also trying to fit dead fish idea into the space/composition,
• work on layout of type and incorporation into image.

Crafting/production - 

• watercolour with black line work,
• explore light shafts,
• digital media, underwater experiments,
• collaging digitally and analogue.

Additional reflections, aspects that need resolving:

• pleased with roughs but keen to push further, incorporating layering, multiple techniques, concept execution,
• difficult to judge ideas as successful or not, knowing which roughs were both aesthetically appealing and conceptually effective enough,
• layout reworking and media experimentation,
• exaggeration and viewpoints.
• favourite brief so far though, as can be more conceptually and visually 'vague' but inventive, without conceptual constraints. Can take one idea from book and depict it, without needing deeper idea behind concept.

ALSO....

Difficult to pick rough to develop...I like them all but after discussing with Jamie he suggested some as too 'editorial' which I kind of understand...but it's an interesting conversation about editorial vs book cover design, which images being more appropriate to one or the other or being more effective in a certain context over another.