Jack it Up

Conceptual Development
Jack It Up!

SERENA VANG | GRAPHIC DESIGN III | CONCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT | APRIL 2022 | PAGE 2
Project Overview
The goal is to design concept-focused jackets for a series of at least three
books. The choice of books should reflect your personal interests and pas-
sions. Choose any titles you wish!
Deliverables:
• Covers, back covers, spine, and inside flaps (must be hard bound).
• A series brand identity (logo, theme)
• Both type and imagery
• Process PDF, three mounted 15” x 20” boards, perfect physical
mock-ups.

Project Schedule
For Thursday, April 7th
Research book jacket design and inspirational examples.
Identify several contemporary series you can relate to.
Illustrate the feel and direction you plan to take your
books.
Conclude this first process PDF presentation with a
section articulating your current take on your develop-
ing approach to work and life as a graphic designer. Use
this semester’s work to illustrate your points. See if you
can determine a personal direction in your work that
can inform this book jacket assignment and your the
focus of your work next semester.
For Tuesday, April 12th
Commit to a final direction based on Tuesday’s in-
put and discussion. Demonstrate an effective process
leading to the conceptual direction you want to take
your book jackets. Define your deliverables and work
through the drawing/exploration stage to viable digital
sketches. Catch up on Jack it Up! assignment expecta-
tions from last Thursday.
Progress! Try and be complete.
For Thursday, April 21st
Final chance for input before final critique.
Print out all deliverables and produce trial mock ups of
the books, present PDF representations (mock-ups) of
mounting/portfolio ideas.
Final critique - this is the final deadline. Not being
ready to present, even if absent, will result in a signifi-
cantly reduced grade. See syllabus.
Prepare to turn in all work associated with the project:
• Process PDF
• Mock ups - include in your final reel (which is due
on the final day)
• Three or four 15” x 20” mounted boards or actual
portfolio mountings
• Web Presence and Documentation Hero Shots

Books and Direction
I don’t read books often, but I do watch movies. Similar to Kalika, the mov-
ies of my choice are Japanese animated movies. Fortunately, there are also
light novels for my selection of books:
Your Name
Weathering with You
5 Centimeters Per Second
These 3 movies are directed by Makoto Shinkai. The series will be based
on Makoto Shinkai’s movies. The common themes that these movies have
together are about destiny, fate, and love.
One thing I love about his movies is that they are all aesthetically beauti-
ful with Japan’s scenery and nature. There are a lot of nature themes like
seasons, skies, weathers, and Japan culture, very similar to Studio Ghibli’s
themes (except Studio Ghibli is much more whimsical).

Your Name | Kimi No Na Wa
Themes: amnesia, body switch, iyashikei (healing), nat-
ural disaster, tragedy
Plot: Mitsuha Miyamizu is a high school student in the
rural countryside of Japan. Taki Tachibana is a teen-
ager living in Tokyo. As a comet approaches Earth,
their dreams and lives start getting entangled. One day
Mitsuha wakes up as Taki. Taki one day wakes up as
Mitsuha. For a few days they sporadically switch bod-
ies until one afternoon they lose complete contact.
Motif/Symbols: Red string of fate (soulmate connec-
tion), twilight sky, comet
Overarching Theme: Some things are fated to be, even
if it seems impossible
Drama Comedy Romance Supernatural

Weathering with You | Tenki no ko
Themes: natural disaster, climate change, family, dirty
side of Tokyo
Plot: High school freshman Hodaka Morishima leaves
his home on an isolated island and moves to Tokyo, but
he immediately becomes broke. He lives his days in
isolation, but finally finds a job as a writer for a shady
occult magazine. After he starts his job, the weather
has been rainy day after day. Then one day in a alley
of the crowded and busy city, Hodaka meets a young
girl named Hina Amano. Due to certain circumstances,
Hina and her younger brother live together, but have
a cheerful and sturdy life. This bright and strong
willed
girl possesses a strange and wonderful ability: the
power to stop the rain and clear the sky.
Motif/Symbols: Teru Teru Bozu (ghost-charm to ward
off bad climate), rain, praying
Overarching Theme: You can create your fate
Drama Comedy Romance Fantasy

5 Cm per Second | Byosoku Go Senchimetoru
Themes: anguish, longing, growing distance, separa-
tion, time
Plot: A tale of two people, Tono Takaki and Shinoha-
ra Akari, who were close friends but gradually grow
farther and farther apart as time moves on. They be-
come separated because of their families yet continue
to exchange contact in the form of letters. Yet as time
continues to trudge on, their contact with one anoth-
er begins to cease. Years pass and the rift between
them grows ever larger. However, Takaki remembers
the times they have shared together, but as life con-
tinues to unfold for him, he wonders if he would be
given the chance to meet Akari again as the tale em-
barks on Takaki’s realization of the world and people
around him.
Motif/Symbols: Cherry blossoms (spring, birth/death,
short-lived), train, time watch
Overarching Theme: Sometimes you can’t change fate
LDR Melodrama Romance

April 7th
Research & Inspiration

• Face, human, person is interacting
with background elements.
• Design interacts with the Title
• Pretty color scheme that isn’t over-
bearing
• Background communicates theme
Observations

• Design interacts with title
• Color scheme is dark and bright
• Big title
• Flower/nature is the focus with hu-
man in the picture again
Observations
JAYA MICELLI

• Serif type title
• Super symbolic, beautiful
• Looks 3D, sculpture?
• Humans again
Observations
JAYA MICELLI

• Title is word by word in white blocks
• Looks like scrapbook style
• Vertical quotes
• Background
Observations
ALBAN FISCHER

• Minimalistic
• Shapes/geometric
• Vertical title
• Tangents
• Background is within the shape (re-
ally like this idea)
Observations
TIMOTHY GOODMAN

• Symbols on the book’s
summary/plot page and
back of the book
• Serif and fantasy-like type
• Quotes on the back page
Observations
KALIKA YAMADA

Developing Approach
My main focus is to incoporate the important motifs and symbols of the 3
stories. Japanese culture and history is very rich, so motifs are important
in their culture. I will be approaching this project in an illustrative style. My
main inspirations are Timothy Goodman and Jaya Miceli for book jackets.
What’s important to focus on:
• Creating a timely schedule
• Preliminary sketches
• Explore typography and design interaction
Things to Consider
• What kind of illustrative style?
• Colorful scheme or not?
• How should they all look like together as a series?

Book Jacket Dimensions
18.25”x8.5”
3.125”
3.125” 5.375”
.125” .125”
5.375”
.25”
.75”
.25”

Important Symbols | Red String
In “Your Name”, the important symbol is the Red String, which repesent-
ed the Red string of fate, a popular symbol in asian culture that brings two
people to a destined fate, in otherwards, soulmates.

Important Symbols | Ghost Charm
In “Weathering With You”, the important symbol is a Teru Teru Bozu, a
ghost charm that wards off bad weather. On a subtle note, the movie was
to bring awareness to the climate change that was occuring in Japan. Oth-
er than that, this ghost charm represented faith, change, and hope.

Important Symbols | Cherry Blossom
In “5 Centimeters per Second”, the important symbol is Cherry Blossoms,
representing the budding love between the two characters, which felt
short-lived just like spring. Representing birth and death, or rebirth.

Taking inspo from Alban Fischer

Moving Forward
After sketching a few ideas, I have to take into consideration of the
longest titled book, which is “5 Centimeters per Second.”
That would leave “Weathering with you” as the longest book title.
Here are some things I need to establish:
• Create more detailed sketches of the front and back
• Develop illustration for the 3 front covers, gather more inspo
• Sketch the inside covers
• Gather information:
• Author biography
• Plot summary
• Quotes
• Type and color scheme choices
• Develop mockups
• Create a dummy jacket for each trial (try printing it; tile print)

Text Dump
Autobiography:
Makoto Shinkai, born as Makoto Niitsu, is a Japanese
director, writer, producer, animator, editor, cinematog-
rapher, voice actor, manga artist and former graph-
ic designer. A native of Nagano Prefecture, Shinkai
studied Japanese literature at Chuo University, where
he was a member of juvenile literature club and drew
picture books. He traces his passion for creation to
the manga, anime, and novels he was exposed to in
middle school. His favorite anime is Castle in the Sky
by Hayao Miyazaki. Shinkai has been called “The New
Miyazaki” in several reviews, including those by Anime
Advocates and ActiveAnime—comparisons he calls an
“overestimation”. He is best known for directing Your
Name, one of the highest-grossing anime films of all
time, and was listed by Variety as one of 10 animators
to watch in 2016. The Asteroid 55222 Makotoshinkai is
named after him.
Your Name Synopsis:
Mitsuha Miyamizu is a high school student in the rural
countryside of Japan. Taki Tachibana is a teenager
living in Tokyo. As a comet approaches Earth, their
dreams and lives start getting entangled. One day
Mitsuha wakes up as Taki. Taki one day wakes up as
Mitsuha. For a few days they sporadically switch bod-
ies until one afternoon they lose complete contact.
Weathering with You Synopsis:
High school freshman Hodaka Morishima leaves his
home on an isolated island and moves to Tokyo, but
he immediately becomes broke. He lives his days in
isolation, but finally finds a job as a writer for a shady
occult magazine. After he starts his job, the weather
has been rainy day after day. Then one day in a alley
of the crowded and busy city, Hodaka meets a young
girl named Hina Amano. Due to certain circumstances,
Hina and her younger brother live together, but have
a cheerful and sturdy life. This bright and strong
willed
girl possesses a strange and wonderful ability: the
power to stop the rain and clear the sky.
5 Centimeters per Second Synopsis:
A tale of two people, Tono Takaki and Shinohara
Akari, who were close friends but gradually grow far-
ther and farther apart as time moves on. They become
separated because of their families yet continue to
exchange contact in the form of letters. Yet as time
continues to trudge on, their contact with one another
begins to cease. Years pass and the rift between them
grows ever larger. However, Takaki remembers the
times they have shared together, but as life continues
to unfold for him, he wonders if he would be given
the chance to meet Akari again as the tale embarks
on Takaki’s realization of the world and people around
him.

Text Dump
Quotes from Your Name:
“I am always searching for something or someone.”
“Tying strings together is a union. Connecting to people is a union.
And the flow of time is a union.”
“The cords represent the flow of time. They twist and tangle, unrav-
el, and connect. And that’s what time is.”
Quotes from Weathering with You:
“Dear God, if you exist, please don’t take anything more, and don’t
give anything more.”
“That summer day, up in the sky... We’ve dramatically changed the
shape of the world.”
“Who cares if we don’t see the sun shine ever again? I want you
more than any blue sky. The weather can go crazy.”
Quotes from 5 Centimeters per Second:
“Over the past few years, I’ve wanted to move on, I’ve wanted to
take hold of something I couldn’t reach. What that is, I have no idea.”
“I probably just want to leave a trace of myself behind in this world.”
“In the end, the train stood 2 hours motionless in the middle of no-
where.
Every minute seemed like an eternity.”

Color Schemes
Sakura Blush
C10 M29 Y7 K0
#e0bacb
Cloudy Sky
C44 M20 Y22 K0
#92b1bb
Pastel Galaxy
C32 M36 Y5 K0
#aea0c5
Chose these colors because they are a good mix, pink mixed with blue
will make purple. It also relates to the connections in each story. Pink or
Red being the opposite end of Blue, meeting halfway to make Purple.

Typography
I chose Cambria because I wanted to aim for a
neat and delicate serif font that would reflect the
poetic stories. Cambria worked well with the siz-
ing as display font especially for the longest titled
book.
The Cambria has been designed for on-screen
reading and to look good when printed at small
sizes. It has very even spacing and proportions.
Diagonal and vertical hairlines and serifs are rela-
tively strong, while horizontal serifs are small and
intend to emphasize stroke endings rather than
stand out themselves.

Possible Sakura Designs

5 Centimeters
Per Second
Makoto Shinkai

Updated Designs

Covers
Inspired by Timothy Goodman

Covers

Covers Updated

5 Centimeters Per Second consists of
three interconnected segments, all focus-
ing on the relationships of a young man
named Takaki and his classmate Akari.
The tale of two people, Tono Takaki and
Shinohara Akari, who were close friends
but gradually grew farther and farther
apart as time moves on.
They become separated because of their
families yet continue to exchange contact
in the form of letters. Yet as time contin-
ues to trudge on, their contact with one
another begins to cease. Years pass and
the rift between them grows ever larger.
However, Takaki reminisces all of the
times they have shared together, but as
life continues to unfold for him, he won-
ders if he would be given the chance to
meet Akari again as the tale embarks
on Takaki’s realization of the world and
people around him.
Makoto Shinkai, born as Makoto Niitsu,
is a Japanese director, writer, producer,
animator, editor, cinematographer, voice
actor, manga artist and former graphic
designer. He traces his passion for cre-
ation to the manga, anime, and novels
he was exposed to in middle school. His
favorite anime is Castle in the Sky by
Hayao Miyazaki. Shinkai has been called
“The New Miyazaki” in several reviews,
including those by Anime Advocates and
ActiveAnime—comparisons he calls an
“overestimation”. He is best known for
directing Your Name, one of the high-
est-grossing anime films of all time, and
was listed by Variety as one of 10 anima-
tors to watch in 2016.
T H E C O N S TA N T D E S I R E
F O R T H AT W H I C H YO U
C A N N OT H AV E
“5 CENTIMETERS PER SECOND, THE
SPEED AT WHICH CHERRY BLOSSOM
PETALS FALL.”

Weathering With You follows Hodaka
Morishima, a high school student who
runs away from home and finds himself
in Tokyo. During a freak down-burst on
a ferry that threatens to wash him over-
board, he is saved by Keisuke Suga, who
gives him a business card.
Settling into life as an assistant, Hodaka
encounters Hina in the company and
attempts to rescue her, eventually dis-
charging the side-arm he found to scare
them off. He and Hina escape, and here,
Hina reveals an unusual ability to clear
the skies of rain that came after she
crossed a torii on the rooftop of an aban-
doned high-rise. Realising that Tokyo’s
been raining non-stop, he proposes start-
ing a business to utilise Hina’s powers
to help those around them, and they
become an overnight success, participat-
ing in events from weddings and sports
meets to creating a miracle for Tokyo’s
Jingu-Gaien Fireworks Festival.
S T R I V I N G F O R
H A P P I N E S S C O M E S
W I T H G R E AT E X P E N S E
“THAT SUMMER DAY, UP IN THE
SKY... WE’VE DRAMATICALLY
CHANGED THE SHAPE OF THE
WORLD.”

Mitsuha (Mone Kamishiraishi) is a high
school-age girl who lives in the fictional
Itomori, a gorgeous, quaint village in the
Hida region of Japan; Taki (Ryunosuke
Kamiki) is a slightly older boy living in
Tokyo. They are both average kids with
their own social circles, but they have
no actual connection, and lead very dif-
ferent lives, at least partially defined by
their equally gorgeous settings of city vs.
country.
One day, Taki wakes up and looks down
to see breasts. He’s in Mitsuha’s body.
The next day, Mitsuha wakes up back in
her own form but with only vague memo-
ries of the day before. And, of course, the
same thing happens in reverse. Mostly
through discussions with people around
them about how weird they were acting,
Mitsuha and Taki figure out that they’re
switching places randomly, only after
sleep.
“ I A M A LWAY S S E A RC H -
I N G F O R S O M E T H I N G
O R S O M E O N E .”
“TYING STRINGS TOGETHER IS A
UNION. CONNECTING TO PEOPLE IS
A UNION. AND THE FLOW OF TIME IS
A UNION.”

country.
sleep.
“ I A M A LWAY S S E A RC H -
I N G F O R S O M E T H I N G
O R S O M E O N E .”
“TYING STRINGS TOGETHER IS A
UNION. CONNECTING TO PEOPLE IS
A UNION. AND THE FLOW OF TIME IS
A UNION.”
S T R I V I N G F O R
H A P P I N E S S C O M E S
W I T H G R E AT E X P E N S E
“THAT SUMMER DAY, UP IN THE
SKY... WE’VE DRAMATICALLY
CHANGED THE SHAPE OF THE
WORLD.”
people around him.
C A N N OT H AV E
“5 CENTIMETERS PER SECOND, THE
SPEED AT WHICH CHERRY BLOSSOM
PETALS FALL.”

people around him.
C A N N OT H AV E
5 Centimeters per second, the
speed at which cherry blossom
petals fall.
“
M A K O T O S H I N K A I born as
Makoto Niitsu, is a Japanese director,
writer, producer, animator, editor, cin-
ematographer, voice actor, manga artist
and former graphic designer. He traces
his passion for creation to the manga,
anime, and novels he was exposed to in
middle school. His favorite anime is Castle
in the Sky by Hayao Miyazaki. Shinkai has
been called “The New Miyazaki” in sev-
eral reviews, including those by Anime
Advocates and ActiveAnime—comparisons
he calls an “overestimation.”
Cover and Jacket design
by Serena Vang
Yen Press Books
150 W 30th Street, 19th floor,
New York, New York 10001
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

STRIVING FOR
HAPPINESS COMES
WITH GREAT EXPENSE
That summer day, up in the sky...
We’ve dramatically changed the
shape of the world.
“
by Serena Vang
Yen Press Books

country.
sleep.
TO ALWAYS BE SEARCHING
FOR SOMETHING
OR SOMEONE
Tying strings together is a union.
Connecting to people is a union.
And the flow of time is a union.
“
by Serena Vang
Yen Press Books

country.
sleep.
FOR SOMETHING
OR SOMEONE
“
by Serena Vang
Yen Press Books
STRIVING FOR
HAPPINESS COMES
WITH GREAT EXPENSE
shape of the world.
“
by Serena Vang
Yen Press Books
people around him.
C A N N OT H AV E
petals fall.
“
by Serena Vang
Yen Press Books

people around him.
C A N N OT H AV E
petals fall.
“
by Serena Vang
Yen Press Books
STRIVING FOR
HAPPINESS COMES
WITH GREAT EXPENSE
shape of the world.
“
by Serena Vang
Yen Press Books
country.
sleep.
FOR SOMETHING
OR SOMEONE
“
by Serena Vang
Yen Press Books

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