Book Cover (link)
The title of this book cover is Veil. I was going for an ethereal feeling. It shows my interest in art, as well as my reflective nature. Veil is not clear, but has that attractive feeling to invite audience to unfold it. The unclearness is like paintings from Impressionism. I put a nearly transparent white layer on the top, to show the title.
Art
1) Impressionism – I used watercolor on the cover. I also dyed the top layer. 2) Piano – classical music, Chopin and Debussy for example. Debussy is also recognized as an Impressionist in music. The flowers on the top can also be seen as keys on the piano. 3) Ballet – the pink wilted flowers are tutu dresses, with skinny body like a ballerina.
Personality
The purple-blue gradient color suggests a melancholy story. Some of my experiences/memories are not very cheerful, and those things made me who I am today – quiet, reflective, and love for ethereal things. These can be seen in the “I Remember” text.
Also, my Chinese name Bing means ice which is cold. It also fits the cool-toned cover.
Process
watercoloring
unfolding
cutting, selecting petals
I love your book cover, it’s so elegant and sophisticated! And it matches the text of your memoir perfectly. I find the choice of material and your decision to use the real flowers very unusual and creative. I’m a bit confused, because I don’t see the veil layer on the final cover… although the way the flowers are seen through the veil is beautiful.
Thanks! The veil layer is the picture under “personality.” It’s clearer to print out without layer so I did not include it on the final cover, and because it’s kind of 3D, it’s better to post photos here, not on the cover. 🙂
Hi Bing
I really like your book cover and your sense of aesthetics. I feel like I raised a veil and sneaked into your secret diary. The colors fit perfectly with the written text. The purple gives melancholy and mysterious feelings. The pink petals at the top of the cover look like musical notes. The scattered petals at the bottom emphasize the melancholic atmosphere. The font used for the text is effective. The title is good. Color harmonies are incredible and it conveys its meaning very well.
Emma
The book cover you have made is so my style. I think that the design relates to the memoir, because of the use of color that blends into the background. The fading of the flowers makes me think of past events that are also fading away from our memory. The pastel colors seems to work out really well in the book cover, because the overall tone is light colored. Also, the typography of the title fits in to give a soft look of the texture in the drawing.
Jin Ah Jun
I believe that discarding the veil-like tissue paper was a great move to make; it does convey a sense of misty beauty as a piece of artwork but becomes confusing as a book cover. The delicate and impressionistic aesthetic of the image is very impressive and coherent with your writing style. I think you could explore more possibilities of typefaces as the font you utilized for the title is quite generic and used a lot in invitations and brochures, which does not combine well with the poetic aesthetic of the image. Also, there are some broken words in the layout of your text; you can try arrange the text with Indesign. I like the typeface of your text, which is very elegant and reminds me of symphony concerts. I love Chopin as well and was listening to his music while reading your writing, they fuse beautifully:)
I think your cover is such a good representation of you and mostly importantly your memories. I really enjoyed just looking at it because as banal as it might sound it is so beautiful and visually appealing for the eyes. The other thing that allows your cover to stand out is the fact that sentences your chose to use from “I Remember” piece go along with it. You recall many memories associated with music and dance and your perception of these art forms and your cover gives the viewer the ability to sense these emotions. At least, this is what I felt while I was looking at it. I also like the fact that you used such unusual materials like real flowers and layers of fabric.
Zoia
The title of the book really goes well with the context, and I can see how you symbolized ‘vail’ as a mean to hide your pain from past. The color tone gives very pure image, and I can relate it into a young lady putting veil on her hair – just like from an old Asian drama. I like how you played with different materials, flowers and watercolor. The final piece is very oriental and mysterious, but also gives a feeling of sadness to me. Typo you used looks absolutely great with the cover!! Love it!