Working On Concepts

The closer I get to the final due date for the designer book the closer I seem to be getting to being finished with it.  Honestly, the greatest challenge for me at this point is the background.  I need to experiment with a few different background imagery styles to find something that is simple to read off of and interesting enough to control the viewer's eye across blank space.  I seem to be stuck in a middle ground between the two currently, but I should be able to think of something by the end of the weekend.

As a bonus here is an image I created during the day today.  An imaginary animal was described out loud and we were asked to show it on a page.  

The animal seems like a toad with a turtle's shell on its back.  Also the toad glows like a firefly and its gaze is deadly.  

Created an interesting publisher mark

One of my favorite conceptual ideas is the idea of the world tree.  This theory is based on an idea that all reality is contained within a single tree.  What makes the idea more interesting is that many different cultures use similar imagery of the world tree.

Here is the original image that I drew. Beside it, an altered design that plays on the world as part of the tree concept literally. 

So..... New Project, New Issues

So the new project is to design 2 two page spreads on a designer of our choosing.  No problem. One of the side projects for last semester was to look at the same list and give a quick presentation over one of them.  Though I love Alphonse Mucha and could have easily do another presentation on him I choose to go with my secondary choice from last time, Yuko Shimizu.

As someone very influenced by asian culture myself it is appropriate to look at another designer who uses similar themes.

Now to get to the new problem plaguing the project.  This morning, after spending some of the time last week working on the design for the spread I lost all of my files.

All of my biography text needs to be retyped, images taken off the internet again, and designs for page spreads to be rebuilt. Before I can sleep tonight. So that I can have them ready for tomorrow.

Wish me luck! 

(This situation really makes me think of the Japanese phrase for good luck. Literally translated into English, the Japanese saying is "Suffer through it!" Seems appropriate.)

(UPDATE)

Posting a mid-reworking concept page. The upper paragraph is too busy, but the solid field of blue seems to work fairly well.