I felt the most comfortable with this project, as I used to be well versed in using design software, such as InDesign and Illustrator. I had the opportunity to work in new softwares, and I have not gotten to flex my design muscles in years. However, it quickly came back as muscle memory. I really enjoyed these tasks.
I chose to design a book cover for The World Beneath, one of my favorite books. The main character is an agorophobic billionaire that lives in a Victorian mansion underneath Grand Central Station. Joe uses the subway tunnels as his way to get around New York City. During a nightly trek, he comes across a man that is acting erratically and unearthing an abandoned train car from the 1940s. Frightened, Joe leaves the man, only to come back to find him murdered. Joe is in a race for his life as not only a hitman targets him, but the NYPD are searching for him as the mysterious man's murderer. I love the twists and turns that this book takes, and I attempted to capture the main story elements on my cover. I used GIMP as the software to complete the task to crop backgrounds, combine images, and typography.
I used Canva to create my vector logo. It consists of a not-so-closed circle with an arrow, and script letters for my initials.The image consists of 5 layers, from the base circle, outline, and each letter. As I hope to take on freelance projects in the future, I would use this logo for my work. Since I graduated from Florida Southern College with a design degree before I became a teacher, I feel that I have come full circle in my career path to return to a design based career that allows me to continue to teach and engage with adult learners.
