PushkinPress - CoCo Chanel - Responsive

I am entering a competition in which I am tasked with creating a new front cover for the non illustrated version of the book 'The allure of Chanel'. It is to be an illustrative interpretation which will inspire readers to immerse themselves in in her extraordinary world.

TECHNICAL SPECS
The competition encourages responses in any media, in colour or black and white, but artwork must be supplied as an RGB tif or jpeg with a white or transparent background, and be non-framed.

''Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel (19 August 1883 – 10 January 1971)^[1] was a French fashion designer and founder of the Chanel brand. Along with Paul Poiret, Chanel was credited with liberating women from the constraints of the "corseted silhouette" and popularizing the acceptance of a sportive, casual chic as the feminine standard in the post-World War I era. A prolific fashion creator, Chanel's influence extended beyond couture clothing. Her design aesthetic was realized in jewelry,handbags, and fragrance. Her signature scent, Chanel No. 5, has become an iconic product. She is the only fashion designer listed on Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.''
- Wikipedia

Known for: No5 perfume, Houndtooth design, Chanel Suit, Pearls, Smoking, Little Black Dress, Suntan, Simplicity, Black and White. 

I looked into existing covers which use illustration, in an attempt to see how the tone of voice and overall aesthetic changes with different illustration styles and colour usage.

Sketching process revolving around chanel herself and the iconic imagery related to her, including her pearls, the little black dress, houndtooth and no5.

using watercolours i experimented using type as image

I also experimented in using the brush to create typography, accidentally creating some beautiful letter forms. this inspired me to start a book of letters which i accidentally write in a particularly nice way.

Houndtooth idea, poorly executed.

Red lips. I really liked this design as the vivid reds were extremely eye catching and had great contrast to the rest of the book. The size of the lips is very small which i also like, balancing nicely with the large amount of white space.

Interesting letterforms created whilst using the watercolours

Final image created in illustrator. I'm pleased with the way it came out although the quality on the lips could have been better. I'm not sure whether it was due to too low a dpi scan or the wrong settings used to trace them. I will have to research this in the future.

Mocked up on the book. I really like the design. I thought about having the face smaller so the whole head would fit between the type but after talking to friends they said to keep it larger so the book doesn't look too boring on the shelf.