Friday, April 22, 2016

Friday Flourish: The Illuminator's Gift

Happy Friday Everyone!

Today I'm sharing the cover for The Illuminator's Gift, the first book in a middle grade fantasy series by Alina Sayre. As you guys already know, fantasy is my very favorite genre to read, but it has also quickly become one of my very favorite genres to design as well since the sky is the limit creativity-wise. While I thoroughly enjoy the challenges each new project presents regardless of genre, fantasy tends to let my imagination run a little more wild than most, and I always have the best time trying to figure out how to bring a story's magical elements to life.

With illustrated covers, my design style tends to be more stylized, with the imagery existing as flat shapes, large planes of color, and lots of texture rather than realistic, painterly or true to life. My initial idea boards for Alina went in my more typical stylized direction, with the sea, sky and flying ship focal points she wanted highlighted shown with clean, crisp lines and clearly defined shapes. After reviewing the boards, Alina asked if we could change the feel of the imagery, taking the illustrations in a more realistic direction and softening the edges overall–a style that wasn't quite as familiar to me.

Having to step outside my design comfort zone is part of what makes this job so much fun though, and by the time I finished putting the initial comp of The Illuminator's Gift together I had learned a variety of new tricks, something that never fails to make me happy. After a few tweaks to the title font and accompanying flourishes, we had our final cover where sea meets sky and the Legend emerges from a wisp of cloud as she flies through the air.

Alina and I are currently working on the covers for books two and three, so stay tuned for those in the coming months!


Ellie is a twelve-year-old orphan who desperately wants a family. She just doesn’t expect to find one when she joins the crew of the Legend, a flying ship in a secret rescue fleet. On board, she meets a boy with a pet tarantula, a bully with eyes like mirrors, and a librarian who can read eighteen languages. Unexpectedly, Ellie also discovers a powerful gift that only she can wield. But when the Legend is called to a dangerous rescue mission, Ellie risks losing everyone she loves. Will her mysterious gift be enough to save her and her friends from a deadly enemy bent on destroying their world?
 
Find Alina & The Illuminator's Gift:
 
You can check out more of my cover design work at Seedlings Design Studio 
 

27 comments:

  1. Another gorgeous cover!! It really pops and the combination of deep blue and gold is always a winner! I love how the ship pops too!

    Brilliant job as always, Jenny! Cannot wait to see the covers for book 2 & 3!

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    1. Thanks so much Pili, I had so much fun working on this one. Really looking forward to putting books 2 and 3 together:)

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  2. Oh, I absolutely LOVE this. It's so magical and the combination of the font and color scheme really have me reminiscing about Peter Pan. This is beautiful, Jenny, and I can't wait to see how the covers for the sequels shape up!

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  3. You may have stepped outside your design comfort Jenny but it doesn't show, this is gorgeous and you did a fabulous job on it! I love the softness to it!

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    1. Thanks Ali! I love when a project forces me to try something new, I always learn so much:)

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  4. The feel is perfectly magical and gorgeous, and the font is a new favorite I think!!

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  5. I've probably said this more than once before, but this is one of my absolute favorite covers that you've done Jenny!! It's SO whimsical ♥ I love the idea of a ship sailing in the sky and that's it's nighttime! PLUS the font it stunning! WTG girl^^

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    1. *happy dance* So glad you love it Micheline! I'm thrilled with how it turned out:)

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  6. Another WOW Jenny! Had no idea you were working on this cover until now and it's simply gorgeous! And you know me and any color of blue - just LOVE this!
    Pam

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    1. You don't have to say "Pam" Mom. You're allowed to leave gushing comments and be a little biased:)

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  7. My first thought was that the cover looked whimisical, and I love the graphics. It is perfect for a MG novel. Awesome.

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  8. I love those colors! This also looks like a dreamscape. Interesting! Another great cover Jenny!

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  9. As usual your work is beautiful, Jenny! The cover is magical! :)

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  10. Love this cover, Jenny! It's so beautiful! Great work!

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  11. I love the graphics. The cover is stunning Jenny and really pulls your eye.

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  12. Another gorgeous cover, Jenny! You're awesome. :)

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  13. This cover practically glows. It so pretty, and looks magical.

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  14. What a gorgeous cover, Jenny! You continue to amaze me with your talent and variety. Each of your covers looks nothing like the other.

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  15. This is GORGEOUS!!! I love that I'm able to pick up on your style now and I can tell when covers were designed by you. So amazing! :)

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