Book cover Process

The books I chose to design covers for and incoperate in a series are:

The Art of the Steal- Frank W. Abagnale

Concealed Carry- Massad Ayoob

Appearances; The Art of Class- G Keith Evans

Museum of the Missing - Simon Houpt

I chose these books for a series, because I felt it would make a nice set to play off the perspective of a thief. These books would provide insight into how the best cons, and thefts would work, which gun is best for the job, how to dress nice to fit the part, and the history of the crime. Not sure why I went in these direction it feels a little off balance since I'm seeking a career in the art profession. The synapses are pulled from Amazon, and are as follows;

artAppearances: The Art Of Class (Paperback)

~ G. Keith Evans (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Class- that familiar measure of sophistication- exists not as a gauge of wealth and achievement but as a byproduct of subtle refinement. Minute details, commonly overlooked by even the most well-heeled, can distinctly set an individual apart from the faceless persona of the middle-class. Appearances addresses these subtle nuances, analyzing finespun details ranging from the common consideration of etiquette to the societal impact of world travel.

The Art of the Steal: How to Protect Yourself and Your Business from Fraud, America's #1 Crime (Paperback)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Author Frank W. Abagnale knows something about fraud--he once committed it for a living. "Through my various hustles, I passed something like $2.5 million worth of checks, a blizzard of paper that I scattered in earnest throughout all fifty states and twenty-six countries, all before I was legally allowed to drink," he writes. "I was proficient enough at cashing fraudulent checks that I earned the distinction of becoming one of the most hunted criminals by the FBI." Abagnale was ultimately caught, and he served prison sentences in France, Sweden, and the United States. In the 25 years since his release, Abagnale (who also wrote Catch Me If You Can) has become a leading consultant on fraud prevention.

"I'm still a con artist. I'm just putting down a positive con these days, as opposed to the negative con I used in the past," he explains. "I've applied the same relentless attention to working on stopping fraud that I once applied to perpetrating fraud." His expertise comes in handy: businesses lose an estimated $400 billion each year to fraud. The stories Abagnale tells in The Art of the Steal provide fascinating glimpses of a criminal underworld. He describes "shoulder surfers" who rip off bank customers at ATMs by videotaping their fingers as they enter PIN numbers, retrieving receipts from wastebaskets, and then creating fake credit cards--all rather inexpensively. Whole sections of the book almost read like a how-to manual for aspiring thieves, though Abagnale has other motives. Throughout, he offers sensible advice on how to foil the con artists. Much of this is common sense (cut up credit cards when they expire), but some of his suggestions aren't so obvious. He warns readers not to write checks to the "IRS," for instance: "Envelopes to the IRS are common targets because of where they're going." Instead, checks should be made out to the "Internal Revenue Service," because criminals can turn the "I" of "IRS" into an "M," and turn a tax payment into a gift for "MRS." Smith. The chapter on the emerging problem of identity theft--with its tips on how to keep Social Security numbers private--is especially helpful. In all, The Art of the Steal is captivating and useful. --John Miller --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

The Gun Digest Book Of Concealed Carry (Paperback)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

In addition to tactical aspects of self-defense, practical information like choosing the right firearm and ammunition, used gun purchases, and all legal aspects of self-defense with a gun are also extensively covered in this complete and authoritative look at concealed carry.

About the Author

Massad Ayoob is one of the pre-eminent fighting handgun trainers in the world. He operates the Lethal Force Institute, which trains both U.S. and international clients. His methods of reflexive, high speed yet accurate shooting has been adopted by the U.S. army as part of its standard pistol-training course. Massad has written many books for Krause Publications, including Combat Handgunnery, The Gun Digest Book of Sig-Sauer, and The Gun Digest Book of Beretta Pistols.

Seven Deadly Sins Process

For the seven deadly sins I had a variety of ideas that I wanted to explore, and through sketching and brainstorming was able to narrow it down to a series of miniatures. Originally I was thinking of shooting a person committing a sin in an everyday routine ( wake up snooze, eat to much breakfast, and road rage) to make this more interesting I thought of having the person committing the act also watching in the scene. The photography would have to be altered and wouldn't have been successful otherwise. The second idea and probably my strongest was to attend a college party and catch people in the act of committing the sin. The series of sketches below were how I explored this approach ; gluttony would be a person passed out on a couch and beer cans all around, lust would have clothes placed around a room and two people covered in a bed. Unfortunately I became ill and was unable to shoot this idea, so I finally went with my third idea of using extreme proportion change to exaggerate the sins. I feel the series turned out well. The sins are communicated clearly, and have a interesting appeal. I do feel there could be a little more relationship and consideration between the pictures and the arrangement within the book.

Icon Color Process

The color process of this project has been fun. Breaking down an icon into simple forms with little consideration is a good technique to have and will try to follow throughly. After I developed a system to employ I then began consideration of color to communicate my story. This part became a little more difficult, because color can have so many meanings. I had a set with red and grey as my two hues, and I felt the colors work well together. The problems was that I might not keep the lipstick as a icon in the end and the red hue wouldn't represent anything. I chose to change the red hue to a midnight blue/purple to represent the night and the high class nature of the crime (purple). I think I might be exploring the red/grey system further down the road if this system isn't the right match for my set. I also reworked my palette to improve the communication of the colors with my story, I feel the second set is much better.

7 Deadly Sins

This is the final set for my 7 sins booklet, I'm still trying to narrow down pride and envy. I'm also trying to decide which shot produces the best composition and clear communication. Tomorrow I will be doing the final print and assembling.

Reading Response

What stood out to me most in the reading "Image, Type, Message" is the idea to design without the limitations of judgement. The ability to communicate any idea at first thought without restricting the creative flow of thought. After this process is finished and every idea is fully explored then the time comes to make refinements and be critical of the steps taken to reach a finished product. To often I find myself trying to make crucial decisions in the preliminary stages and being more explorative in the end stages.

I also like the ideas of layering and migrating text and image into the composition. The approach that was used to design the architect competitions provided great insight into a starting point for this project.

Famous People Ideas

I was debating between three people to use in these project.

Isaac Newton

Jim Belushi

Jim Morrison

All three of the gentlemen are of my favorite influential people, but Isaac Newton has the most impact in history and I find to be my number one choice.

For content to use in my image these is still a work in progress, but I'm thinking of trying to represent a prism in some fashion for Newton was the first to discover that white light is made of all the colors. He also was the first to make a reflective telescope, and wrote "The Principia" describing the laws of motion. He discover/invented calculus, and had several other influences in mathematics and physics. Maybe a physics or calculus text book might be used, and some way to describe his impact on how we use color.

Quotes:

"If I've seen further than others, its by standing on the shoulder of giants." (favorite)

"We build to many walls and not enough bridges."

Modes of Communication

After a few lessons on semiotics, in a visual aspect, the information is starting to be absorbed. Its interesting how intuitive the categorization of icon, index, and symbol really are. The difficult part becomes taking the intuitive thought and developing the formal idea behind the modes of communication. It also seems the majority of the visual communication overlap the categories making a more visually interesting piece by providing more information.