ILLUSTRATION
Talking Turkeys
Benjamin Zephaniah
Brief: Design a book cover for Benjamin Zepaniah's book 'Talking Turkeys':
This project required us to come up with an engaging book cover for Benjamin Zephaniah's book 'Talking Turkeys'. I began by reading through the book and exploring ideas for a character. Sketching Turkeys felt like a good place to start as they're quite a strange looking animal.
I experimented with various ideas and illustrations until I had created a characterful illustration. It was important that the Turkeys were expressive and had variation to follow the theme of the book. I began with a realistic drawing and slowly began to exaggerate the features adding human qualities and accessories such as glasses.
I used colour and patterns to make the turkey visually engaging. Although this book could be read at any age, it was primarily aimed at children aged 11-13, this meant it would be important to use bold colours and patterns that children would respond to.
I decided on this shape for the final design of the cover. I added hand drawn typography to the wings of the turkey and changed the colour from black to blue.
Outcomes:
I chose a complimentary colour scheme and used a radial composition with my hero image in the centre. I was really pleased with the illustration itself, however i felt with a little more time i could've improved the text significantly. If i came back to this project I would like to add more complex imagery in the background and text that is empathetic to the theme of the book and the illustration.
