Flyaway Cover Art and Lettering

Recently I created the title lettering and decorative illustrations for the cover of the book Flyaway by Lucy Christopher, published by Chicken House in the UK. I worked with the wonderful and so-very-organized Steve Wells (www.stevewellsdesign.com). From start to finish it was a great experience.

Here's a visual breakdown of our process:

Steve began by sending a rough brief to make sure I was interested and set the stage for what he was envisioning. Ok, so we need decorative flower illustrations to complement the jacket design. Right up my alley. Let's go!

We talked a bit and decided I would hand-letter the title and layer the floral illustrations for more depth. Steve grabbed a few images from my website and sent me this composite as a jumping off point. Exactly what I had in mind! Always great when everyone is automatically on the same page.
Next, it's time for sketches. I like to quickly get my idea out and then create a style board with lots of information for the client. This helps everyone envision what the final product will look like. You can only express so much in a sketch and I wanted to offer several different types of flowers (some with line work, some without) and multiple color palette options. We ended up going with the flatter, more trend-oriented flowers since this book was aimed at the tween market.

So here was my working final. I ended up moving away from the solid silhouetted layering shapes in favor of semi-transparent flowers and sketchy-style scrolls layered under the flowers for a subtle doodle-in-your-notebook vibe.

In the end Steve worked his design magic to get everything perfect. And there we are on the back cover! I can't wait to get the printed book next year.