The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

Development

This was a project I picked up and put down over the course of a few years, in between the business of life. As a result, it went through a lot of changes each time I went back to it with fresh eyes and improved skills!

The initial thumbnail ideas for the cover design. I was strongly drawn to the idea of the open wardrobe doors peeking through to the different world within, and wanted to try and create a cut-out style cover, with a full image on the inside page when you open it.

With the first attempt at this cover, I struggled to translate the strong concept I had from my thumbnails into a successful design - fitting the whole shape of the wardrobe felt klunky and ineffective, not leaving enough room for the titles. I felt the character designs were strong, but knew that the concept as a whole needed refreshing.

Starting over, I made new thumbnails to work off, trying to focus on bolder, simplified shapes. I decided the doors were the only part of the wardrobe really essential for conveying the idea - the rest could be suggested by the shape of the cover itself. I wanted the title and author name to take more of a centre stage, and for the characters to be closer up in the frame.

The new final design ended up focusing much more on simple, stylized shapes, allowing the cut out centre illustration and the titles themselves to take centre stage. I used dramatic shadows to highlight the text as well as draw attention into the centre - through the wardrobe itself. Working on the interior illustration, I concentrated on ensuring it worked both as a part of the main cover, and as a whole illustration itself when the page is turned.

For the updated back cover, I decided to leave out the shape of the wardrobe and focus instead on shadow and light, to give suggestions of what the story inside might hold. I really liked the large shadow of the lion - giving a sense of majesty and power, while also being subtle enough that you can't be entirely sure what you are looking at.