front cover

for the front i had only ever imagined something minimal, the idea came to me to echo some of the more abundant imagery of the text, ivy leaves was one piece of imagery that recurred quite often. i want to surround the text with ivy to try and suggest a grave without actually drawing one. my initial sketch (below) was simply an attempt to plan the space i was going to use on the final image, where to place type etc, surprising how close to the final it really is.

after i had an idea of the placement and how it was sort of going to look i started a rough sketch (below). it gave me a good idea of the kind of forms which look best and suggest the shapes i needed. 

 unfortunately it transferred to inks very poorly, there was something very unprofessional about the use of space, liked the detail of the leaves but it just didnt look how i had imagined.

my last hope was to scribble out some abstract shapes and place them together digitally. This way of working has been a staple over the course of this module and has really increased my efficiency in producing visuals, once again i tried it out with the page below and it was a relative success. 

i used the brush in a similar way to chinese brush letting the loading and application of pressure create a lifelike form, loose abstract marks can take on a life of their own when the mark making is considered.