Before the Culture Storm

This above screen grab is from an e-mail Jamie sent over the weekend, pushing back the due date of the final culture collection book. A collective huzzah was heard through the studio. However, this meant steeper expectations from us (the students). Or that Jamie was severely disappointed in what we had to show last week.

Today, I had a one-on-one discussion with Jamie regarding my mock-up and my cover. Overall, I feel comfortable with the amount of work I have to do before Wednesday. My spreads have greatly improved since my last post. However, not all of them are quite right. Jamie and I thoroughly discussed each spread and how it could be improved - whether it was image quality, positioning and size, or image cropping.

While the spreads are "getting there", my cover is still sub-par.

The wood was distracting too much from the image. My type choice was too plain, too safe, and didn't fully explore the richness of rural life. Jamie urged me to explore the cover again (pointing out that I should've done it sooner).

I found a new image completely. I feel that the proportions (land, buildings, sky) are more comfortable than the first image. I didn't want to frame the image, like on the last cover, because this photo is so vibrant. However, I wanted to "prepare the viewer" for the strong corners in the book. I reviewed this cover with a fellow classmate (Jessie Ren). She didn't appreciate the typeface, nor the distracting line.

I changed the font and resolve the line. I enjoy how it stands as of now. I would like to incorporate the line element - but I can't tell if it's too distracting still or not. I want to keep the cover feeling open - as though you are in the country, breathing the air deeply, animal manure and all. I also want to preserve the reverence of the moment in the image.

I'm anxious to complete this book and move on to phase two, but I mustn't let it distract me from the task at hand.