Abstract guidebook research and method planning I started by investigating the travel guidebook cover scene. I divide these into the categories of primarily photographic/typographic, graphic design-based and abstract art illustrations.
Photographic
Graphic design
Abstract travel guide covers
Yes, they do not exist on google.
Abstract but non-travel
Findings Abstract art is not used to illustrate travel guides. I wonder why? Maybe because people want a book cover which clearly illustrates the real-world? But the internet is now full of abstract design templates for books, reports or magazines. Here’s thousands on google. It is impossible to know how popular these are because they are probably more suited to business or non-profit organisations. The vast majority of travel guides have covers based on photographic images, with maybe 10-20% opting for graphic design either instead, or to complement photographs. However, I could find no truly abstract travel book covers, so this is uncharted territory!
Abstract art styles I based this research on the examples shown in the study guide.
Mondrian
Well it is fun when you see it the first time, but it’s overused and seems a little naïve. What about applications of Mondrian, which is after all based on the coloured rectangle idea at the heart of this task.
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I found this. It’s not a concept that easy to apply to illustration unless using a technique like this amateur art work on Pinterest https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/542120873897706518/ But there is no cultural or artistic reason to use this technique across all the 10 book covers. We are not selling a guidebook for the Mondrian appreciate society. So that is out. How about this, ‘Picasso’s Smile’ by Jeangeaunat?
It is an impressive fusion of colours with a clear accent in the yellows. There is an underlying shape but with a mosaic of random colours wrapped around it. It would be extremely difficult to covert iconic images of cities into line drawings and colour them this way and keep the result consistent across the titles.
So, I continued my search for inspiration.
Here Japanese graphic designer Nemury has created a graphic design with simple but abstract elements.
https://www.designindaba.com/articles/creative-work/japanese-graphic-designer-nemury-creates-abstract-artworks-his-iphone
I love this mixture of coherent curves and straight lines, with careful use of colour shades and a blast of the yellowy-green accent in the hair. I would like to explore this style of design in this project, but the example given doesn’t show this amount of coherence. The example given in the notes is more like this
http://www.brycehudson.com/geometric-abstraction-painting-untitled-44-brycehudson/ I am not inspired by this Bryce Hudson piece. I can see no aesthetic or symbolic message. It is not a technique to apply to illustration of this type. I would not hang this in the downstairs toilet, to be honest. Artistic pleasure is personal, after all. So, I’m left with trying to emulate the style presented in the notes, and to use careful colour choices to tie the rectangular elements together in to a final design which reflects the city’s essence in both shape and colour. That is not easy. Here is another Ben Nicholson
This is his 1936 still life. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/nicholson-1934-6-painting-still-life-t07007
It is in the Tate, so critics must love it. I think it is a cup of tea. But I cannot imagine it would sell a book on tea to a modern audience, unless they were truly pretentious tea drinkers too. Reflections I didn’t like the example in the student notes.
That’s Nicholson-esque but even more crude. The key elements in this image are the literal colour interpretation from the image, and the relative placement of the graphical elements. Adding circles for wheels would have made it respectable. I will try to emulate the skills shown in the example. If I cannot copy that then I should give up…
Approach 1) Find a photographic image to represent the city 2) Use a best fit by eye to gauge the colour distribution, then use a tool such as canva.com to process the image and identify the principle colours. 3) Perhaps develop a colour swatch for each image, to help ensure that the colours I choose have an appropriate range of tint and shade 4) Use rectangles to illustrate the key features of the image…
I suspect that rectangles will not be sufficient to capture the essence of these cities. As the Nemury portrait shows, curves represent much of our natural world. Yes, I can use rectangles for structures, but not if they are purely aligned horizontally or vertically.
https://www.netclipart.com/isee/iRmibTT_clipart-london-cityscape-silhouette/ If I wanted to illustrate London in a recognisable but abstract combination of rectangles I would fail miserably with domes, sloping objects and circular objects. What I’d create would be a crude Lego Duplo model at best. So, my plan is to use rectangles as far as possible but if I feel that quality is compromised, I will switch to polygons. I will also avoid high resolution detail, as this is time consuming and probably of diminishing returns. I will use solid colour, with no effects such as half-tone or gradients. I may use outlines if needed. With the focus on colour I will focus my colour swatches on the principles of analogous, complementary and triadic choices and chose shades within the hues I pick.
Whilst I will acknowledge the emotional messages of base, or dominant, colours‌
It is also very subjective, and obvious.
To avoid being cultural insensitive I will not be taking images of a cities which make them look miserable, violent or depressing. This is a guidebook, so the colours I choose will reflect the colours present in the city – anything else is a misrepresentation. I will emphasise key colours in the image but not distort these to change the perception of a place. That is not what a non-fiction guide is about.