Initial Sketches - The Door into Shadow - Live Brief

After reading the book I began doing initial sketches for the cover. Each design has referenced particularly scenes or characters from the story.

The first ideas are based on the idea of David and his ghost brother - outlining the brother with a dotted line - created a contemporary, symbolic approach rather that being too literal. Often old fashioned classic Penguin books used this modernist approach and this is the style I'd like to replicate. The second design shows the 'Shadow Lens' which is what the main character uses to view the ghosts moving about the town. This illustration could be quite detailed, or I could do some research into how to create a realistic glass effect. In fact, this could be something made in real life and then photographed.

The next ideas are based on the character 'The Alchemist' who is a recurring character throughout the story. The visual description of him is rich and frightening, which might work well as an illustration. This could be done using block shapes or detailed line, using shape could be an interesting approach. Another idea was to involve the chloroform which the Alchemist uses, however this might be seen as too sinister for a novel aimed at young people - it almost might not immediately signify the story's genre.

Another idea was to illustrate the actual 'Door into Shadow' which was described as a stone arch surrounded by a circle of stone apostles. Below I have experimented with several different layouts, which could use a variety of techniques - such as collage, illustration, digital illustration, specifically referencing older 1950s Penguin books.

Finally there was some experimentation with how to represent the darker 'Shadow World' which is a parallel of the ordinary world. This could be made by distorting the reflection of a town skyline, inverting the colours or even having more obscure collage with one half having open eyes and the other having closed eyes.