Because I am meant to be finishing up on something else that's a bit dull and frustrating I have found myself irresistibly drawn into creating a hypothetical book cover again.
It's in my 'setting stylised into tallness with integrated typography' tradition:
I wouldn't say this one is finished yet. I think the treatment of 'Frances' and 'Hodgson' might need a little refinement, and I'll have to put it aside and come back to make sure everything is working satisfactorily.
But I really like the overall look, and am particularly pleased with the way the glazed brick areas pick up on the yellow glow of the window. I think it's a nice balance of the flat vector look and the touch of 3D-ness that invites one in.
The building itself, as well as the palette, is inspired by one of my very favourite films, which is Alfonso Cuaron's 1995 adaptation of A Little Princess. Production designer Bo Welch's created a set for the school and the street on which it stands, for my money, perfectly combines grounded historical-ness with a heightened fairy-tale feel.
In fact, though it's not relevant to this image, I also have to mention costume designer Judianna Makovsky's work for achieving this balance in stunning fashion (as it were).
Between their work, as well as set decoration by Cheryl Carasik and of course cinematography by Cuaron's longtime collaborator Emmanuel Lubezki, it's a film full of gorgeous visuals that stays with you.
Cuaron was very much in his 'green' phase at this point, and the aforementioned collaborators saturated the film with that colour, alongside orange and creamy whites.
My cover might be better in a more blue shade of the greens than the yellower shades that the film tended towards, I haven't quite decided yet.
But for now, back to the think I'm meant to be doing... *sigh*