We were given a total of 5 random words/names/numbers - the ultimate aim was to create 3 book covers, each depicting one of these words plus the others to a lesser degree - not in a necessarily obvious way but making sure the design was unified. My words were: Prussian blue, Neil Armstrong, Blackpool, Skin and 300.
My research into 'prussian blue' mostly lead to dark places (it being a poison and also the association with the far right!) so it wasn't a great leap to decide on a murder mystery style cover. I am a HUGE Saul Bass fan so tried hard to create a retro theme along similar lines to his work - I even found the 'Hitchcock' font which I feel works pretty well!
The main word here is 'prussian blue' which is shown in the vibrant blue used, the bottle shapes - these represent a chemists symbol as prussian blue could also be a poison (hence the idea for the book cover), and the lynx (see below) plus the china teacup (prussian blue was often used to decorate teacups) in the forth bottle along
- 'Neil Armstrong' is depicted with the moon and a woman with a 'strong arm' in the first bottle
- 'Blackpool' is shown with the illuminations and visiting figures in the second bottle
- '300' is shown with the letter shin in bottle three
- 'Skin' can be seen in the last bottle - this was a dm boot (as worn by skinheads) overlaid with zebra skin
The most prominent word used in this image was 'Skin' :
- The singer 'Skin' from the band Skunk Anansie is the figure shown
- I have used manipulated crocodile skin background (in red & black)
- The Trojan records logo (with strong links to the skinhead movement) has been partially used to create image shape.
'Neil Armstrong' is referenced by the moon which can be seen behind Skin's head, 'Prussian Blue' by the dusky blue image - which is part of the image of a lynx (Lynx is the name of one of the singers from neo-Nazi band, Prussian Blue!), 'Blackpool' is referenced in some of the coloured texture (imagery from the Blackpool illuminations) and '300' is depicted top left with the shin letter for this number.
The most significant word in this image is '300' - the first instance is the letter Shin (the linear symbol in grey) - according to the bible the spirit of God is represented by the number 300 which equals 'Shin'. The fox is another Bible reference, relating to Samson catching 300 foxes. The buddha shown relates to the first branch of buddhism being established around 300 bce...
- The word 'skin' is represented by the skinhead bottom left
- 'Prussian blue' by the wave (The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Hokusai who used this prussian blue pigment - he was also a Buddhist which relates back to the number 300)
- 'Neil Armstrong' is depicted with the kneeling ('Neil') figure in the buddha and also part of the 'Playtex' symbol top right (the company who owned Playtex helped create the space suit Armstrong wore!
- For 'Blackpool' again I used texture of the illuminations to create some interesting effects.
