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FIGURE ILLUSTRATION III vscm 324 FIGURE ILLUSTRATION III vscm 324 PULP FICTION PROJECT PULP FICTION PROJECT CHARACTER STU D I ES & BOO K COVER
D ES I G N CHARACTER STU D I ES & BOO K COVER D ES I G 3 N
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contents 6 7
PLOT SUMMARY
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MYRTLE WILSON
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DAISY BUCHANAN TH U MBNAI LS AN D SKETCH ES FI NAL I LLUSTRATION TH U MBNAI LS AN D SKETCH ES FI NAL I LLUSTRATION
PULP FICTION COVER TH U MBNAI LS AN D SKETCH ES TONAL AN D COLOU R STU DI ES COLOU R COMPOSITIONS TYPOG RAPHY VERSION ON E: ART DECO VERSION TWO: PU LP CLASSIC
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plot summary Bond-seller Nick Carraway, in a sanitarium for depression and alcoholism, is persuaded by his doctor to write a therapeutic account of what put him there. Nick’s journal describes how,seven years earlier, he had moved to a tiny house on Long Island adjoining the sumptuous mansion owned by enigmatic neighbour, the fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby. After attending one of Gatsby’s legendary parties Nick is asked by Gatsby to arrange a meeting with his cousin, Daisy, now married to the brutiWsh and philandering Tom Buchanan, who was Gatsby’s true love, prior to war service. As Nick complies he comes to see that Gatsby, once a poor boy, has recreated himself as a fascinating millionaire purely to win Daisy back but the events of a drunken afternoon conspire to bring about an ending which is anything but happy.
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sketches
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myrtle wilson
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yrtle is the mistress of Tom Buchanan, Daisy’s husband. She uses Tom as a source of money and love, and she possesses a fierce vitality and desperately looks for a way to improve her situation. She’s married to a lifeless husband, George, who owns a run-down garage in the Valley of ashes. Unfortunately for her, she chooses Tom who only treats her as a mere object of desire. She’s very insecure, emotional, fake, and has many flaws. Her insecurity, unfortunately, leads to her tragic death.
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thumbnails
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sketches
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thumbnails
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pulp fiction
book cover design
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he Great Great Gatsby Gatsby is is one one of of he the most most well well known known classic classic the novels of of the the 20th 20th century. century. For For novels this project project II decided decided to to create create and and this design an an “authentic” “authentic” Pulp Pulp Fiction Fiction design Book Cover Cover that that would would show show more more Book of Gatsby’s Gatsby’s personality personality and and his his of relationship with with Daisy. Daisy. Since Since the the relationship genre of this novel is a mix of fiction, genre of this novel is a mix of fiction, drama and and romance, romance, II decided decided to to drama feature the the main main characters characters that’s that’s the the feature primary cause cause of of conflict conflict of of the the story. story. primary
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thumbnails
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explored on different concepts for the book cover. At first I wanted to make it strictly romantic and very cheesy, like the typical Pulp Fiction novels you would have bought back then. However as I analyzed the story more, it wasn’t mostly about romance. The story mostly shows the sins of the 1920s, cheating on wives, dealing drugs, excessive alcohol consumption, and murder. Though Gatsby’s entire purpose for hosting these extravagant parties was mostly to get Daisy’s attention, there’s more drama and pain involved around it. Therefore I decided to have both figures back to back, and have a change of scale between them.
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sketches I developed my thumbnails and added a bit of tone. My goal was to make the cover as dramatic as possible.
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sketches
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ince we were assigned to make two versions of the cover, I decided to separate it using two different styles. For the first one I decided to incline it more with art deco, with flat graphic derivative shapes and beaming lights. Gatsby’s character is very mysterious. People question how he was able to get all that wealth out of nowhere. I decided to show that side of Gatsby on the cover; I illustrated him turned back, whereas Daisy’s face full of sorrow is more dominant. 1920’s was a period of wealth and grandeur, therefore I decided to include the automobile and beaming lights in the background. The automobile also foreshadows the main cause of turmoil in the story.
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he second version leans more with the “authentic” classic pulp fiction style, where the figures are realistically rendered. I decided to have Daisy in the background but in a larger scale than Gatsby to foreshadow that she is Gatsby’s only weakness. Her facial expression depicts her mischievous and selfish character despite her beauty. Gatsby’s facial expression also shows his vulnerability towards Daisy.
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colour studies
Pulp Fiction is mostly defined by its intense colour palette. Most of them include primary colours that have high chroma, and the skin tones are usually peachy. Therefore I decided to apply those colours roughly just to see if the sketches would go well with it.
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Tonal studies
After choosing the right colour palette, i converted it back to grey scale just to see if the tones are working right. For the pulp version, I decided to hide Daisy behind the shadows to show that she’s not as innocent as everyone thinks she is.
THE
GREAT GATSBY F.F. SCOTT SCOTT FITZGERALD FITZGERALD
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colour comps
I tried playing with cool and warm colours for the comps, with a highlight of yellow. The red version however, defines the story more since it could be interpreted as a bitter-sweet romantic novel, or a story that involves murder and dishonesty.
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typography
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For the pulp classic version, I specifically chose bold sans serif fonts like Impact and Univers Black like any other pulp novels. For the art deco version, I used fonts Deco fonts that are decorative and geometric to match the overall design.
final cover In conclusion, I still prefer the classic pulp fiction novel more than the art deco version. It’s tricky to combine graphic shapes with a theme that’s supposed to show old classic books. The rendered version looks more authentic and accurate for Pulp Fiction, however the art deco version shows more story and information.
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