The making of the cover design for Improve Your Communication Skills by Alan Barker

Overview• Process

Going over the information we have and starting to generate ideas making sketches of the cover.

The first idea is about a man with a golden tongue. Representing the tongue as a way to improve communication skills and achieving success. The second idea is about a gold medal of a communication champion.

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Client: The head with the tongue is OK, but the medal is not. We don’t like the digit inside the head and especially the fact that it’s Roman.

Someone suggests to leave the head be by placing it in the center of the medal and writing “1st place” below it. Taking the feedback into consideration and creating the final image.

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The digit is barely legible. Adding a more expressive tail.

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Now it’s good. Sending the final image for typesetting.

The typesetter launches the application developed at the studio for typesetting book covers and chooses a template. Now he needs to enter the dimensions, upload sketch illustrations, add all the text and click the Generate button several times.

The app creates a bunch of variants. Choosing the best ones, fixing some mistakes made by the artificial intelligence, asking the chief typesetter for advice and showing the best designs to the art director.

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The art director chooses the cover with the traditional calm layout where all the beauty is concentrated in the fun illustration. Spending some time regretting the rejected lettering, then starting to finalize the mock-up so it can be presented to the client.

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The client asks to have the head face right and to work on the embossment outline. Fixing, improving, sending the text to the editor, getting the art director’s approval and sending the mock-up for printing.

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Generating the Process text using the same application and enjoying the results provided by the twenty first century technology.