Epic Fail. Failed album cover for a collection of kids songs. This one should not have failed-- the math was there -- kid, tea cup, moon, flying, little boats with musicians initials.
All the elements for a great cover. Alas it was not to be. Nor was my second cover:
The album is called "Slug and Bugs and Lullabies" ...so here we have a slug, a bug, and a lullaby. Not these colors mind, I just colored it for myself, but the drawing.
It was not to be either. So, I made another, (two versions of another) and they were ultimately not to be.
More covers versions
A previous IF post with another reject interior
The "approved" final rough which was unapproved
The above is a version that almost made it, made it to a revision at least, and then canned.Here's what came about to be final--
Oh, wait, no, it was changed, the bugs were taken out and some stars from some of the interior art replaced them.
Oh well.
I've still got the drawing of the kid and the tea cup and the moon. That'll make it into a mural in a kids bedroom some day.
Fail? Heck no!
* * *
This post is to show the progression of cover development under the IF topic "Fail"
I hope it didn't somehow come across as if I were harboring some latent irritation towards the "client" because the project was fun to do. We've done several projects together in the past and I look forward to more.
What failed to occur to me was the "failed" elements making it into the album in other places, I was only thinking about the cover in regards to "FAIL."
(Fail is a funny word to me and to think of a kid and teacup and moon and flying and to think of some deep, dark voicing pronouncing: FAILURE is funny to me.)
Most of the "failed" elements made it into the album design in other places, just not the cover. The slug, bug, and gramophone made it onto the back, the one "failed" cover made it behind the the place where the CD goes inside. Again this wasn't about the individual pieces, just about the cover itself "failing."
I picked this project to post because I genuinely liked the pieces themselves. Every project has revisions, so I don't want anyone to think the client was unreasonable in anyway. Because that was never the case.
20 comments:
Very cute! The covers would be just great! But as you said - you will use the illos in some other way!
wonderful work....we are on the same wave length...
lol, I work with clients also...I know the feeling! *sight*
Typical client interaction, eh??
Great way of posting this!
love it
teri
very cute! all of them are great. I hate when illustration plays a backseat in the final..boo, I think kids would gravitate more towards pictures of slugs and bugs!
Great attitude about the whole process. You got many wonderful illustrations that may not have developed if not for the indecisiveness of your clients! :)
The kid in the cup is great, but I really love the slug!
Probably listening to some Muddy Waters...
I like the middle one...nice characters and lines...
I love them all! Especially the first two. So cute!! I have never seen such an adorable slug!!
the kid in the cup is brilliant. wish they had realized that. (the others are great, too.)
Oh, come on now. "Typical client"? What wasn't said was that we used pretty much every delightful illustration you created, Sir Godbey. The back cover of the record? The slug and the bug with the gramophone. The collage of characters? On the CD and in the tray. "Typical clients". Sheesh.
But seriously, I imagine it would be hard to deal with a picky client like me--not to mention a project where there are TWO picky clients (me and Randall Goodgame).
From the picky client's point of view, however, the project means a zillion times more to us than it ever could to the illustrator. You have a pile of projects on your desk that will occupy your time and creativity once the book is closed on this one. The client, however, will have but a handful of works that will be his forever, second-guessed, worried over, and passed down to his children and grandchildren. Of course, I'm talking about individuals, not corporations. All that said, Cory and the folks at his company were nothing but eager to give us a final product that we'd be proud to pass on to our progeny. Excellent work.
Your illustrations are delightful. I like the third one in particular, the one with the flying little girl. Great lines and expressions!
I like the third cover. I really like it! Nice. :)
they're all good! im likin the second the most..damn clients always telling us what to do!
Hey Cory, My sister really loved the artwork on this album. She got it for my niece mentioned it to me saying I should check you guys out. I'm glad I did. Keep up the good work! God Bless, Dave M
Ha, it's interesting to see how very different the versions are. They are all great, but I especially like the slug (of course) and the third version, where so much things are happening.
That was really interesting - it's great to see the process. I like the one that almost made it best - it looks like the cover to a really great storybook.
I love your post and your honesty!
Really, any of the covers would have worked perfectly!
I love to see the progression and development of the cover.
The expression on the slug's face is priceless *grins*
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