Vintage science kits design development

Initial sketches

I decided to take inspiration from vintage science kits for kids to create some sketches for a cover design; the idea played with the playfulness of the book, and creating a sense of humour - this related to how Bill Bryson doesn't take himself seriously in his writing.  

Here is the initial sketch; I wanted to type Bill Bryson in the format of a vintage logo/ sticker; I feel like this would look really nice with a worn effect, to give that vintage aesthetic. As well as this, I thought adding a cartoon banana could add a humorous atmosphere as it relates to the fact of humans sharing the same DNA as bananas, as well as creating a childish undertone to the cover. The only issue with the initial sketch was that the type looked slightly too childish and lacked a sense of formality, which the book still needed - I think that Helvetica would probably work the best. Also, in my digital versions, I needed to consider colour too. 

Digital development

I created some sticker concepts to be dotted around on the cover, to create a reference to vintage packaging; especially referenced in the stickers shapes and primary colour schemes. This primary colour scheme worked quite nicely in communicating a fun atmosphere. I felt like yellow should be dominant, as it related to the idea of a banana, yet in a subtle way. 

This was the initial digital design that featured the stickers above; I wanted the stickers/ illustrations to kind of frame and block out parts of the text in order to convey the idea of the book cramming information in one small space. I feel like this design could have done with more texture as it looked slightly too flat; I could decided to experiment with ways of adding rips and crumpling up the paper. 

Physical manipulation

I decided to produce some texture to the design by printing it out and crumpling it up; I really like the effect that this provided, as it gave the design a worn effect which links to the inspiration from vintage packaging. I thought that I could develop this further by photocopying this and then having the image used for the actual design. However, I felt like the plain Helvetica text made it look a bit flat still, so chose to further manipulate the type. 

Trying different type styles

I created this type by printing out text and ripping it up to created a stacked/ harsh edged effect; this helped add more texture to a simple Helvetica font, without being over complicated.

 I then added the sticker/ illustrations to the manipulated type in order to create a more textured designs; I really like the direction that this concept is heading in, as I feel like with further feedback and design development, the vintage packaging design could work for the final thing. The only issue is - what will I do for the back page? How can I make it cleverly wrap around?