The book cover design started with a concept sent by Hemant (Bacteria Designs). It was finally decided that the cover of Decoding Communications would be a symbol made of words and symbols. We needed symbol units that could become a part of a larger symbol - the book cover itself.
My scribbling habit was finally put to some use and I doodled out some symbols that represented concepts in the book. I enjoyed it so thoroughly that I sent the phone-camera snap of the doodle to Hemant soon after it was done. Then on his request, I further sent some sentences and 'equations' that would help create the cover.
The initial thought that Hemant had was to draw the design on a blackboard with chalk. He even said, "I think slate-chalk will be better as it will give a better feel". First on paper, then drawn to scale on blackboard. And then finally photographed. That was the plan.b
He took these symbols and then roughly drew them (with an electronic pencil) on a diagram of a face replacing all the facial lines with words and sentences. The very first draft that we saw looked like the picture below on the right. I never could visualize without having something do visualize with and so it was very helpful. It gave an idea of what could be expected.
After this there was one more draft made. And this one looks like the picture on the left. The face became more artistic, the symbols more real. The title Decoding Communications was typefaced in yellow. Hemant's version is that this makes a 'no-nonsense' combination. His next pencil drawing was scanned, reversed on the computer and given the effect that you see (the idea of blackboard and chalk was dropped after trying it out). This was getting closer to what we wanted. Much closer.
If this works, from my point-of-view, the masterpiece has already been created. While the full image viewed in entirety looks like a face (Greek actually), every written word and drawn symbol is a critical concept from the book itself.
One part I particularly like in the version given above are the eyes - they represent what metaphors are. Its actually the metaphor that shows the Neils-Bohr atomic model explained by the solar system. The right eyeball is the solar system and the one on the left is the atom with electrons moving around it. Nice.
After this version was touched up, more symbols added, lines corrected, contexts created, the draft was finally approved.
Hemant is now working to redo the entire design in pencil (see right hand side image). This is likely to develop into the final version. This image will be created such that the face has a high aesthetic appeal. After this, it will be reversed on the computer, with blackboard-chalk and more effects added. Then we'll have the final cover design.
Who said you should not judge a book by its cover?
My scribbling habit was finally put to some use and I doodled out some symbols that represented concepts in the book. I enjoyed it so thoroughly that I sent the phone-camera snap of the doodle to Hemant soon after it was done. Then on his request, I further sent some sentences and 'equations' that would help create the cover.
The initial thought that Hemant had was to draw the design on a blackboard with chalk. He even said, "I think slate-chalk will be better as it will give a better feel". First on paper, then drawn to scale on blackboard. And then finally photographed. That was the plan.b
He took these symbols and then roughly drew them (with an electronic pencil) on a diagram of a face replacing all the facial lines with words and sentences. The very first draft that we saw looked like the picture below on the right. I never could visualize without having something do visualize with and so it was very helpful. It gave an idea of what could be expected.
After this there was one more draft made. And this one looks like the picture on the left. The face became more artistic, the symbols more real. The title Decoding Communications was typefaced in yellow. Hemant's version is that this makes a 'no-nonsense' combination. His next pencil drawing was scanned, reversed on the computer and given the effect that you see (the idea of blackboard and chalk was dropped after trying it out). This was getting closer to what we wanted. Much closer.If this works, from my point-of-view, the masterpiece has already been created. While the full image viewed in entirety looks like a face (Greek actually), every written word and drawn symbol is a critical concept from the book itself.
One part I particularly like in the version given above are the eyes - they represent what metaphors are. Its actually the metaphor that shows the Neils-Bohr atomic model explained by the solar system. The right eyeball is the solar system and the one on the left is the atom with electrons moving around it. Nice.
After this version was touched up, more symbols added, lines corrected, contexts created, the draft was finally approved.
Who said you should not judge a book by its cover?
Quite...not only does it make a LOT of sense, it looks fantastic!
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