For my book I chose The Mystery of 2012, by Gregg Braden, Peter Russel, and many others. I have just started reading this book, but it seems very interesting. Considering all of the recent events, Tsunamis, nuclear emergencies, civil unrest in the Middle East, earthquakes, and so on, one wonders if there is any merit to 2012. I’m not sure if there is or not, but I find the topic intriguing, and it made for a cool book cover.
I started with a stock grunge background that I have used before, I adjusted the clarity, vibrannce, and saturation, to make it look even more worn and dirty. Then I found an image of a Mayan Temple and applied the texturizer filter to it. I also applied a light affect and changed the blending to color burn, I centered this over the peak of the temple. Then I found an Image of a nuclear symbol and masked out the black in the center and the arc shapes, and allowed a stock image of flames that I had. On the flames I adjusted the saturation all the way up by using an adjustment layer. I then found and added a biohazard symbol as a layer between the nuclear symbol and the flames. I adjusted the opacity of both the biohazard symbol and the nuclear symbol to allow both to show through to each other and the flames. I also added a drop shadow to both the give some more depth. I found an Indiana Jones like font, and added the wave effect to it. I then took the text and used turned it into a layer mask and layed it over a red to orange gradient. I felt it was too bright so I added a black color overlay at a low opacity to cut it down some. I then added a drop shadow to the words. I duplicated the process for the rest of the word on the page. For the spine I took all of the layers I had and shrunk and rotated them to fit on the spine in an orderly fashion.
The black space between the cover and spine I added so you could have some separation between the two.
Hope everyone like it, took quite a bit of time (again).
Tmess13Ph. Nuclear Symbol. Digital image. PhotoBucket. Web. http://media.photobucket.com/image/nuclear%20symbol/tmess13/radioactive_sign_01.png
Newscientist.com. Mayan Temple. Digital image. Http://tricorder.at/wp-content/uploads/HLIC/ee3021840914bf04dace04551075393b.jpg. Web
Warwick, Justin. Biohazard Symbol. Digital image. Clpiartist. Web.
I like it. It has an unique feel. You are assuming that the only dangers we face are nuclear and bio hazard. What about economic collapse or earthquake?
ReplyDeleteI would Simplify the type maybe make it straight.
Thanks, I'm glad you like it.
ReplyDeleteI had considered adding different symbols, but I felt it might get overcrowded. I thought the two symbols meshed into one above the temple gave it a really eerie feel. I can see how straightening the font could make it stand out more. I will take that into consideration next time.
I really like your bookcover. Every aspect of it ties in together. Your choices of textures and colors all work together and play off of each other and really match the subject matter. This particular subject is a hot topic right now, and I think your creation brings together all of the elements that are on people's minds right now and will capture the attention of readers. These projects take a lot of time to put together, but are worth it when you see the end result.
ReplyDeleteI love that you are a fan of playing with font effects just like me! The book cover is a great piece, and I really love what you did with your text. This is great. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDelete