05 April 2009

Taym Pers: On the cover

New to the Japayuki Chronicles?
Start with the Overview or Chapter 1

Julie (who's collating all Pinoywrimo excerpts) and Tina (the ML for NaNoWriMo Philippines) sent out a last call to authors for book covers last February. I hadn't sent anything in when I submitted my excerpt, and I kind of felt bad about it, so my creative juices giddily started flowing when I learned of the extended deadline ;-)

Since the story is basically chick lit, I wanted something attractive, girly, and funky. I scanned several covers for inspiration. Finally, it was the cover for Petite Anglaise, a novel based on Catherine Sanderson's blog, that helped me come up with a cover of my own.

Copyright by Petite Anglaise


I was looking for something that would evoke the landscape of Tokyo, so the multitude of buildings in the background above was perfect. If you look closely below, you'll notice I got a bit OC withe the architectural elements. Some of buildings included in the composition were Philippe Stark's Asahi building (popularly known as the Golden Poo), Meiji-jingu shrine, Yokohama Landmark Tower, Tokyo Metropolitan Government building, and the Fuji Terebi building in Odaiba. I added the sakura (cherry blossoms) for effect since Ana and Ken's story starts in spring ;-)


Next, I worked on the outlines of Ana and Ken. Ana's went through several revisions, first she was wearing a blouse and cullotes, and was walking rather than leaning on the torii. It must have taken me 2 days to find the right pose for her. Ken was easier. Making his Asian-ness apparent in the outline was a major challenge, but in the end, I decided that it was all in the physique and hairstyle. Japanese men are usually lean and have Kouji Kabuto type hair. However, instead of sketching as I did with Ana, I simply traced a photo of one of my fave Japanese actors (Guess who!!!) on Adobe Illustrator ;-)


All throughout the design phase, I wanted to echo the effect of the Eiffel tower on the cover of Petite, so I imagined a ginormous torii (Japanese gate) dominating the center of the cover. I think I'll tweak it a bit more if I find time, because it isn't as obvious as I wanted it to be. Plus, the colors on the .jpg file are more muted than they ought to be. sigh. Onscreen, the colors of the torii and the suitcases really jump out at you, but when I converted them, they lost a lot of oomph. sad.

On the whole however, I'm glad with the way the cover has turned out and am already envisioning the covers for the next books ;-)

---

Thanks for your time! More chapters coming up soon ;-)

19 comments:

liza said...

Impressive! You did really great on the cover. :)

Cristina said...

Hi :) I just dropped by to thank you for commenting on my latest blog post. Would you want us to exchange links? I would love to read your posts.

Till then!

kcatwoman said...

hi i like the cover that you made. it's really, really well made.. is adobe illustrator the only program that you use? it's real nice, hope to learn from you. have a nice day. and thanks also for commenting on my post.

--flor from http://bestpinayblogever.blogspot.com

Badet said...

Nice cover!

christine margaritte said...

Hi! thanks for the comment! :)

Uwi ka dito sa Pinas itong summer para makatikim ka na rin ng halo-halo! :)

GoD bless..

cpsanti said...

liza, badet, and kcatwoman, thanks! glad you liked it ;-) kcatwoman, i also use photoshop and indesign for graphics ;-)

cristina, thanks for dropping by ;-)

maganda, only if i could. hehehe. i usually gorge myself when i go home during the holidays though ;-)

anney said...

It turned out amazing!I love your color choices! Great job!

jess de mesa said...

you did the cover? love it! Japanese version of Petite Anglaise :)

cpsanti said...

sassy reporter, thanks for the heads up ;-)

anney, jessica, glad you liked the cover ;-)

Chubskulit Rose said...

Hi there, thanks a lot for the visit and comment...

I love your header design..

Ken said...

hello CP Santi. Hope we can get hold of a copy of your book, but will look around Nat'l Bookstore when we go for vacation.

I tagged you in the my recent post. For the past few days, I truly enjoyed your post and entries.

Thanks for joining Kablogs, we truly appreciate it.

regards,
The Thoughtskoto Family

Joy said...

Hiya! I love the cover. It does have an element of the Far East and a bit of Western Europe. Great work!

Thanks for visiting Norwich Daily Photo and leaving your comment. Come back tomorrow!


joy
A Pinay In EnglandYour Love CoachI, Woman

Sofie said...

Hello cpasanti,

Argh, sorry. I probably won't be able to follow you here. Too much to read and I'm quite busy these days. But maybe in the next few months, I might be able to read everything you wrote. Just keep on writing!

cpsanti said...

chubskulit and sofie, thanks for dropping by! hope you come back soon ;-)

mr. thoughskoto, glad you liked it. hahaha! it hasn't been published...yet. but i hope a publisher picks it up soon ;-)

joy, thanks! glad you liked the cover!

Anonymous said...

new site: http://lakarlota.blogspot.com

Clarissa said...

Hello there,CpSanti!!Sorry for the late visit.I love your cover and the header of your blog!!Thumbs up!Really impressive!

Beth said...

visiting you here CPsanti!
thanks for visiting me too!

i love the cover!!! the choice of color, the silhouette, perfect! :)

cpsanti said...

hi karlota, clarissa, and beth! thanks! glad you guys liked the cover ;-)

Kikit said...

They all said it. :) The cover seems to cover everything. Well-thought. :)