J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World
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maxdefiant
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I'm really liking what you have so far, Arky! 
A few suggestions...
- I know you're probably still working on adding other elements to the design, but be mindful of both positive space (the main focus of the picture) and negative space (the area that surrounds the main focus). When I used to judge the Battle Royal, this was one of the main things I noticed between the designers who have studied the elements & principles of design and the self-taught amateurs who watch Photoshop tutorials (no offense meant to anyone who does this by the way... it's a great way to learn but doesn't teach you everything). I've seen so many great custom covers on here where there is a focal point surrounded by a disproportionate amount of dead space and it just feels "off." It's often hard to know when you've found it, but try to achieve a balance between what viewers are supposed to look at, and what they're not.
[attachment=36107:hp1.jpg]
- And while I'm on the subject of balance... the designs feel a bit bottom-heavy at the moment. The bottom half of the cover features the torsos of the three characters, the title treatment, and the tagline... the lower portion of the top-half features their heads, and the top portion of the top-half is just a bunch of negative space. Try sliding the characters up so that Harry's head is vertically-centered in the top-half. This should help to fix the negative space issue as well as balance the top focal point (Harry's head) with the bottom focal point (the TT).
[attachment=36108:hp2.jpg]
- Try to maintain consistent placement of the characters across all of the covers. This might be tricky to do, considering the characters physically grow over the course of the series (in addition to having pictures of them in different poses), but there are some ways to keep things consistent. First, use the character's eyeline as your guide (the green line)... it's the main thing people look at on a face, so it's best to keep that somewhat constant. Create a guideline in your PS document for where Harry's eyes should be. Then make one for the top of his head (the red line) and one for the bottom of his chin (the yellow line). I do this in my Comic Collection template for the character's heads on the spine... it's very helpful and I think it's worked out well so far. While Daniel Radcliffe's head will grow and change over the 8 films, keeping his eyes in one place should help make the covers match each other much better. Do this for Ron and Hermione/Emma/Belle as well. Notice in the example below how inconsistent the eyelines are for all three characters.
[attachment=36109:hp3.jpg]
- Also try to keep the size of the characters consistent across all of the covers. In the example below, I've shifted the 2nd and 3rd covers up to match Harry's eyeline from the 1st cover... but now notice how different in size each of his heads are and how the red and yellow lines do not always line up to the top of Harry's head and his chin. Adjust the scale of Harry's head accordingly and then do the same for Ron and Hermione. Also realize that this is not an exact science and that depending on the character's pose, you can be somewhat flexible with obeying the guidelines exactly. In those cases, use your best judgment and as I usually do... eyeball it.
[attachment=36110:hp4.jpg]
Not that I need to tell you (but maybe some others will get something from this advice as well), when creating designs that are meant to be part of a matching set, it's important for designers to set constants (what should stay the same) and variables (what can change) for themselves. Certain things like the size and placement of characters, title treatments, and taglines can remain constant, while things like colors, textures, and imagery can change. It's up to you which constants and variables you set for yourself in your design, but then stick to them across all the covers. Once you nail everything down and develop your template with the first cover, the rest should (theoretically) fall together much easier.
That's all I've got so far... feel free to use any of it or none of it. Sorry for the long post. I'm sure you know most of what I've said already, but maybe it will be helpful to someone else reading it too. I'm excited to see where you go with this!
Keep up the great work!
A few suggestions...
- I know you're probably still working on adding other elements to the design, but be mindful of both positive space (the main focus of the picture) and negative space (the area that surrounds the main focus). When I used to judge the Battle Royal, this was one of the main things I noticed between the designers who have studied the elements & principles of design and the self-taught amateurs who watch Photoshop tutorials (no offense meant to anyone who does this by the way... it's a great way to learn but doesn't teach you everything). I've seen so many great custom covers on here where there is a focal point surrounded by a disproportionate amount of dead space and it just feels "off." It's often hard to know when you've found it, but try to achieve a balance between what viewers are supposed to look at, and what they're not.
[attachment=36107:hp1.jpg]
- And while I'm on the subject of balance... the designs feel a bit bottom-heavy at the moment. The bottom half of the cover features the torsos of the three characters, the title treatment, and the tagline... the lower portion of the top-half features their heads, and the top portion of the top-half is just a bunch of negative space. Try sliding the characters up so that Harry's head is vertically-centered in the top-half. This should help to fix the negative space issue as well as balance the top focal point (Harry's head) with the bottom focal point (the TT).
[attachment=36108:hp2.jpg]
- Try to maintain consistent placement of the characters across all of the covers. This might be tricky to do, considering the characters physically grow over the course of the series (in addition to having pictures of them in different poses), but there are some ways to keep things consistent. First, use the character's eyeline as your guide (the green line)... it's the main thing people look at on a face, so it's best to keep that somewhat constant. Create a guideline in your PS document for where Harry's eyes should be. Then make one for the top of his head (the red line) and one for the bottom of his chin (the yellow line). I do this in my Comic Collection template for the character's heads on the spine... it's very helpful and I think it's worked out well so far. While Daniel Radcliffe's head will grow and change over the 8 films, keeping his eyes in one place should help make the covers match each other much better. Do this for Ron and Hermione/Emma/Belle as well. Notice in the example below how inconsistent the eyelines are for all three characters.
[attachment=36109:hp3.jpg]
- Also try to keep the size of the characters consistent across all of the covers. In the example below, I've shifted the 2nd and 3rd covers up to match Harry's eyeline from the 1st cover... but now notice how different in size each of his heads are and how the red and yellow lines do not always line up to the top of Harry's head and his chin. Adjust the scale of Harry's head accordingly and then do the same for Ron and Hermione. Also realize that this is not an exact science and that depending on the character's pose, you can be somewhat flexible with obeying the guidelines exactly. In those cases, use your best judgment and as I usually do... eyeball it.
[attachment=36110:hp4.jpg]
Not that I need to tell you (but maybe some others will get something from this advice as well), when creating designs that are meant to be part of a matching set, it's important for designers to set constants (what should stay the same) and variables (what can change) for themselves. Certain things like the size and placement of characters, title treatments, and taglines can remain constant, while things like colors, textures, and imagery can change. It's up to you which constants and variables you set for yourself in your design, but then stick to them across all the covers. Once you nail everything down and develop your template with the first cover, the rest should (theoretically) fall together much easier.
That's all I've got so far... feel free to use any of it or none of it. Sorry for the long post. I'm sure you know most of what I've said already, but maybe it will be helpful to someone else reading it too. I'm excited to see where you go with this!
Keep up the great work!
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JollyRoger
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Kernie wrote:QUOTE (Kernie @ May 21 2017, 09:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Sorry for the long post. I'm sure you know most of what I've said already, but maybe it will be helpful to someone else reading it too. I'm excited to see where you go with this!
I always find your input enlightening and easy to understand especially with the great visual aids, thanks for taking the time to make it Kernie.
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Thanks for the feedback guys and thank you a lot for the suggestions Kernie.
I'm not sure if I'm gonna add other elements to the front design, you guys know me, I tend to do clean and simple fronts (main reason because I prefer them like this and also probably because I don't have the skills to do something different). With this in mind, I think I solved the negative space above the characters, moving the tagline to the top and placing the title a bit more to the bottom.
I've started this with the idea of having the front frame but I've discarded it for now. Kernie mentioned that the front was bottom-heavy. With that in mind, I've moved the characters up, not sure if it was enough. I think now I have the two front focal points: Harry's head at the top and the TT ar the bottom.
I also changed the characters size so they can be more consistent and as you can see, the preview still have the guidelines I used. It's not easy to match every single detail because the poses aren't the same. I still need to figure how I'll do that for the second movie, because the images I used aren't full body pictures but I'll work on that later.
What do you guys think? Better now?
[attachment=36126:Sem_T__tulo_3.jpg]
I'm not sure if I'm gonna add other elements to the front design, you guys know me, I tend to do clean and simple fronts (main reason because I prefer them like this and also probably because I don't have the skills to do something different). With this in mind, I think I solved the negative space above the characters, moving the tagline to the top and placing the title a bit more to the bottom.
I've started this with the idea of having the front frame but I've discarded it for now. Kernie mentioned that the front was bottom-heavy. With that in mind, I've moved the characters up, not sure if it was enough. I think now I have the two front focal points: Harry's head at the top and the TT ar the bottom.
I also changed the characters size so they can be more consistent and as you can see, the preview still have the guidelines I used. It's not easy to match every single detail because the poses aren't the same. I still need to figure how I'll do that for the second movie, because the images I used aren't full body pictures but I'll work on that later.
What do you guys think? Better now?
[attachment=36126:Sem_T__tulo_3.jpg]
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