EDWARDO RECIFE- Great Artist Connection.

Another new artist to add to my collection courtesy of Richard.- Edwardo Recife.

Just generally these are really interesting ways to combine imagery & illustrations with readily avaiable or "found" objects...for example the use of the typewriter in the above example.
If you look closely at the examples there are also basic techniques of mark making where the artist has literally "scribbled" a line onto the background using a pen.-A great way of keeping to this idea of "looseness" and "roughness" which is evident from his work style.

The first example showing the horse really got me thinking about the idea of an animal "changing" or "transforming" into something, or someone else. .....Could I focus on an animal to play with or imitate the idea of the human form?? ...

More of his work is available at www.misprintedtype.com

FURTHER DESIGN DEVELOPMENT...

To improve on my final design, I have now included some of my own markmaking lines which I created from black ink. I have overlaid this on top of the composition as I feel that the shapes of these lines subtly resemble the idea of blood.
I have added a black flower over the yellow wheel which deffinietly helps towards balancing out the composition more and to blend in with the image better. - The yellow wheel does not direct the eye away from the other shapes within the image now.
Another slight adaptation are the small "stitched" outlines around the leg and left arm with the small image of a pair of scissors to reflect the idea of "cutting" into the body. These stroked lines also help to make the body parts pop more on the background.
You will also notice that the small circle bolt on the left side has duplicated.- Having compared this to using a single bolt, I feel I prefer the more asymmetrical approach from using a single circular bolt.

My next stage will be to work on the typeface.

Although it is not clearly visible that this design is to reflect the topic of "Cosmetic Surgery", I think that the little clues such as the stroked lines around the arm & leg and the mark-making help provide subtle hints to the viewer. I also think however that it cleverly plays on the idea of "don't judge a book by it's cover". I need to make sure that I choose an appropriate book title to help reflect the idea of "transformation" or "surgery"........

DEVELOPING MY FINAL COMPOSITION

Scanning in my own objects (meccano, leaves, a brooch & jewellery) I have gone onto create the above composition, using both Kerry Roper & the “Flaunt” typeface image as my main sources of inspiration. I am really liking where this style is going,- I intend the use of the butterflies to metaphorically replicate the idea of an insect (a caterpillar) going through the process of metamorphosis to become a butterfly i.e. to become "something else". I want this process, metamorphosis, to play on the idea of women choosing to go under the knife, in the hope that it will "transform" them too, into something else.....Perhaps this idea could also be reflected in the title....."Metaphorical Beauty"? or "Metamorphosis"......Anyone else have any suggestions?

I now want to push this idea even further- I think that the larger yellow wheel is a bit too distracting against the rest of the composition, I need to look at perhaps overlapping a darker object on top of this.
I also need to develop a suitable typeface for the title & edit the areas where the hands are in the composition as they need to be "overlapped" onto holding the spanner & the metal bar to help make the image look less "photoshopped"!

VAULT49.COM

It was by chance while looking through the "Maximalism" book by Charlotte Rivers that I came across this fantastic "Flaunt" typeface Composition. I like how only small parts of the female form are shown underneath the layers of ink lines and insects. The typography is also really clever with how it almost "interacts" with the background image due to the overlapping of the lines and areas of colour which spill onto the individual letters.

This discovery then led me onto looking at vault49.com where I discovered many more highly inspiring compositions which incorporated nature, layering of images and mark making techniques.......This then got me wanting to try a similar style and take it one step further then my previous "Kerry Roper" inspired composition.

KERRY ROPER STYLE BOOK COVER-

Returning to the style of Kerry Roper, I wanted to see if I could create my own inspired composition showing only selected body parts and objects which I felt were appropriate with relating to the female form. I chose to use a mask to represent the female form due to the softness of the feathers but also as I am still keen on the idea of hiding the full identity to the readers of my book. I felt the zip worked in suggesting the idea of "undressing" to reveal the real person underneath the masks of clothes & surgery etc.
Colourwise, I think that my design is too bright,- the yellow is too much compared to the grayscale tones of Kerry Ropers which are complimented with the green background pattern.