Assignment 2 - 1984 - Concept / Draft Images - 1

Concept

There is no doubt that a book cover must do more than have on it the Title and the Authors name, although with The Classics this is eminently possible. Also an early decision is to whether make a 1947, 1984 ( both relevant dates) or a contemporary version. In this instance I will make a contemporary version suitable for publication in 2014.

From the previous journal entry I can form a list of the vital aspects of the book, all of which could be used as part or all of an image.

• Winston Smith
• The Party
• Big Brother
• Telescreen
• Goldstein
• Ministry of Truth
• O'Brien
• Julia
• Charrington
• Paper Weight (More prominent in Film Version)
• Thought Police
• Surveillance
• Proles
• 101
• Rats

In addition to the obvious opportunities presented from the list I am interested in some visual clues that arrive from the numbers 1984 and 101. Smith's world in 1984 is a place of no options. There is the way of The Party and Big Brother and that is the only way to live your life. There is no room for conversation or thought about another way that is not punished with torture and death. There is Right and Wrong, it is a binary situation. Room 101 is a puzzle. There may be hundreds of rooms, but why has Orwell chosen 101 as the final room ?. O'Brien tries to make Smith believe that 2+2=5, not 4.
101 in a binary code is 5. Maybe a curious coincidence, maybe room 5 or maybe something deeper.

Also the binary code for 1984 is 11111000000: a rather clean and simple looking set of 1's and 0's.

My initial thoughts are that I want to make a cover that uses binary code.  Potential readers will have heard of or seen the television programme Room 101 where objects or ideas are destined to that room as a punishment. They may not be aware of the connection to this book so I will make use of the 101 as a symbol in a binary environment to attract interest without referring to Room 101 in any overt way.

Early photography

The first image is of a computer screen with endless 10101010 numbers. I changed the screen resolution to 800x600 so that the numbers were larger and so that the screen dots formed a grain effect. This early image was taken with a 24mm tilt and shift lens so that I had control over the amount of the image that is in focus. It is a large image, 7360x4912 so that I have crop opportunities as the design develops.

Image 1 Binary Screen

Image 2 Modified to Portrait and early experiment with 101

Day 2 in conceptual design

Not entirely happy with where this is going and reverted to making some clichéd images of lenses and eyes (to be added) to capture the "Big Brother is watching You" theme, but they aren't really what I wanted.

In advertising and marketing there is one certainty "Sex Sells" and to be fair to the story and the film (which made the most of it) this is about an affair between a man and a woman who manage a romance for a while despite Big Brother. The female form is therefore a useful shape to encourage at least half of the potential buyers. The text is temporary and the binary 1984 is not working yet and may be deleted as being too complicated. Perhaps something for the rear of the cover.

Feminine Curves

More to follow