Designing the Cover of the Third Year of Our Reign



Above is the first pass at the cover for Third Year of Our Reign, the new supplement for Greg Stolze's REIGN. Each cover in the franchise has shown a different stage in an ongoing imperial dynasty. This time, I got to thinking about one of the young heirs to the throne getting impatient. With a conspiratorial smirk and a ready spear, this young Imperial has deadly ambitions.

In the video above, you can see all the fits and starts that go into my process. At one point, I consider doing another montage composition like the last two supplement covers, but I end up focusing on this one character.

Ideally, those back-and-forths would mostly happen in the pencil-and-paper phase of design, but this is a peculiar situation. I've designed four covers for this franchise already, so I have a large library of strokes and visual elements already made. I'm on a tight timeline for the rest of the year and I've already overcommited. Also, I've had all summer to think about what would go on this cover already.

Consequently, this cover was completed much more quickly than usual. About two hours total.

» Music: CC-BY-NC-SA Butterfly Tea
» Previously: Designing the Title for Third Year of Our Reign

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