It’s time again to put into practice some of the techniques and methods you have been learning about this unit. To do this, imagine the following scenario: you’ve written a novel about the artist you’ve been working on all semester However, because their staff designer is on vacation, the publisher wants you to create your own promotional Powerpoint presentation about the book that includes the book cover, a one-paragraph synopsis, and your author biography. Also, they are a small publisher, and cannot afford to pay for any image rights to your artist’s work…so you’ll have to make the imagery used in the cover!
To complete this assignment, follow these steps:
- Use Powerpoint (free for Brookhaven students as part of the Office 365 package) or a similar free product such as Google Slides or LibreOffice Impress to create the slides in your presentation.
- Based on what you’ve already learned about your artist and her or his work, come up with a fun but appropriate title and one-paragraph description for your novel. Since this is fiction based on a real person, you have a lot of room for creativity – do not feel beholden to what actually happened to your artist, but let that just be the starting point.
- Choose one (1) of the photographic categories in chapter 2.8 on photography to conceive of the type of photograph you will use for your book cover image. Then using the camera on your phone (or an actual camera if you have one) create a photograph of that type to use as or on the cover of your novel.
- On the first slide of your presentation, use the tools in the software to create the book cover for your book. Apply what you learned in chapter 2.7 about graphic design (and those principles of design!) to craft a book cover. Your book cover should use your photograph in whole or part, and should include at least two (2) different fonts. Think carefully about how the fonts work together and in conjunction with the image(s) on your cover. Be sure to include your book title and your name as author.
- Create a second slide, where you will need to include an image of yourself and a brief author biography. To create your author image, you will need a transparent sheet (obtainable at an office supply store or craft store if you do not have any on hand; alternatively, you can use a photograph of yourself and a plain sheet of paper, taped to a sunlit window, as described below). Print out a photograph of yourself and place the transparent sheet over it; alternatively, you can tape the transparent sheet to a bathroom mirror and draw directly over your reflection. Using a marker (Sharpie works well) try to draw your portrait by tracing the contour line from one starting point, uninterrupted, across all your features. See chapter 2.1 for more information on contour line drawings.
- Take the finished self-portrait contour line drawing and scan or photograph it and embed it into the second slide of your presentation. Write a brief author bio for yourself, and save the presentation.
- Finally, in your blog, write a brief statement about why you used and made the image you did for the book cover, and how it relates to your artist and book title/synopsis. Then submit the file as your assignment submission.
That is a large number of steps, I know! But have fun with this assignment, which gives you more freedom to explore with the processes we’ve been studying while using a thin thread of connection to your chosen artist.
After the deadline, the assignment and unit will close and any unfinished or unsubmitted work will earn a failing grade. This assignment is worth 100 points and will be graded based on the student’s ability to complete all the steps, the care and planning taken in conceiving of the book cover design and author portrait, and how well they work with your idea about the novel itself. I want to see how well you are thinking about and using some of the two-dimensional media we have been learning about this unit.
The Artist that you write about must be Ernie Barnes. Born (1938-2009) African-American artist best known for his unique style, that blends movement, emotion, and cultural pride. Born in Durham, North Carolina.
Textbook: A Little History of Art by: Charlotte Mullins