I have recently saw a Will Terry´s Perfect your portfolio class at SVS (The Society of Visual Storytelling). Great class, Will :-) 

They presented us viewers with a list of 100+ items a portfolio should include in order to attract an attention of the art director or publishing house and encourage them to hire the artist. And provided samples for each items on the list along with an explanation of the reason why that particular item is important, too. 

Here is my summary of the items Will mentioned:

1. different formats and sizes (full spreads, single page, vignettes, spot illustrations...)

2. colour schemes

...

I had a new idea for a PB the other day that plays with names of group of animals that have also other meaning. Been writing and drawing ever since. 

I am working on my little kangaroos character for Not So Sleepy Kangaroos. I have been trying to get to know my character through sketches and various poses and activities. Most are not included in the book, but it gave me better understanding of their shapes and working of their limbs and ears. 

The book cover design is one of marketing tools a publishing industry uses for ensuring and increasing sell ability of published manuscripts. In following article(s) I will try to outline its place, importance and purposes within the entire publishing process, its future and trends and most importantly describe design process and set of rules that can - according to array of book cover designers living and working in different countries around the world - lead to successful, desirable cover design. 

Factors affecting sell ability of the book

Publishing constitutes a unique branch of a commercial design. It has its o...

The cover is a face of the book, a reader’s first insight into the story within

As already mentioned, the first and most important purpose of the book cover design is attracting the eye of the potential buyer. As Jason Heuer (2012) says, ‘it’s like a first impression on a date. A literary flirtation, or when done best, a seduction’. One could add that the part of this seduction is to let the content to sell itself, once the interest has been awoken. For that reason the cover always needs to correspond with the content within. To establish this connection, Chip Kidd (2012) likes to ask himself the question ‘What does the...

Day 15.

Do not think the reader stupid

This is a basic rule of all branches of commercial design. It implies that ‘you should either say Apple or show an apple, never both’ (Chip Kidd, 2012). In other words, the designer should treat the audience as intelligent human beings and therefore design the cover accordingly. 
By expressing the same message through both pictorial and written elements the designer not only loses valuable chance to convey more hints to the potential buyer, but also underestimates readers, most likely the brightest and best educated sort of audience. Especially the new generation of young readers, that...

Day 14.

Day 13.

Day 12.