Updated: December 04, 2013

I made some final small tweaks to the "F", adjusting the internal pattern and tone of it a little, and some more linework tweaks and placement, and am happy with it. I believe that I am finally at the point with both of my letterforms where I can walk away happy. Here they are! Thanks to everyone who helped out with their comments and suggestions, they were greatly appreciated, and thank you to Jessica for providing a fun and unique class that really helped me fine tune my processes!

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald - image 1 - student project

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald - image 2 - student project

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald - image 3 - student project

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Updated: December 03, 2013

Today I was feeling under the weather and ended up taking a day off from work. About halfway through the morning I got bored, so I started to sketch and decided to try and come up with another drop cap for the Great Gatsby. Since the book is written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, I decided I would take a stab at creating a new "F". I tried to keep the same stye and ideas in mind, but do a little more with the letterform to show a more elegant nature, as well as that extravagent one that is so commonly associated with the time frame of the 'Roaring 20's'. I'm still tweaking colors and linework, but I thought I would post these 2 works in progress to see what you guys think!

Im playing with the pattern on the letterform, trying to make it visible and intricate, but nothign too much or overpowering. Since the letter has lots of weights and weaves I don't want the pattern to overpower the area it is too much and clog it all up.

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald - image 4 - student project

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald - image 5 - student project

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald - image 6 - student project

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald - image 7 - student project

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Updated: November 30, 2013

I've begun to move my mocks into an actual book format to see how they look. I think looking at them from a viewpoint of application could help me with any last minute formatting on the size and shape of the letterform, as well as the linework surrounding it.

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald - image 8 - student project

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald - image 9 - student project

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald - image 10 - student project

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Updated: November 27, 2013

I thought I would post my progress through creating this vector as I continue to tweak the internal pattern and add a more light shadow to make the pattern pop and come to life. I posted some plateau points that I hit during my progress as well as some close ups to show the details of the inside. Let me know what you guys think or if you have any comments or suggestions! Thanks!

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald - image 11 - student project

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald - image 12 - student project

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald - image 13 - student project

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Updated: November 22, 2013

Since my last post I have begun to really tweak my vector work and add some more subtle new aspects to the deisign. Not only have I been adding slight shadows to the interior vector pattern, but I have also added more linework to the exterior design around the letter to make it more extravagent and decorative. Let me know what you guys think about these directions! Suggestions and constructive criticisms are always welcome! Thanks!

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald - image 14 - student project

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald - image 15 - student project

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald - image 16 - student project

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Updated: November 15, 2013

Since my last post, I have moved my sketch into Illustrator and have begun to vector my sketch and bring it to life. As you may notice, some things have changed since my last sketch – I've added more lines to the shadows, and created and placed a new intricate pattern over the "G" shape that I am still working on and bring more to life. I think that both of these additions really help stress and represent the time period (1920's) and really gice the letterform a life and look of its own. I am also still working on my color selections, though I'm still leaning towards a combination of green and gold, as both are relevant colors of the time period and are important features in the book as well.

Let me know what you guys think! Thanks!

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald - image 17 - student project

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald - image 18 - student project

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Updated: November 11, 2013

First I just wanted to say thank you for the feedback on everything thus far, everyone, it has been very helpful and great!

After everyone's comments, I have decided to narrow it down to a capital "G", and I have begun playing around with a few more detailed sketches of them, including one new approach. The first "G" is a new itteration of a pervious rough sketch that I posted before. I added in a little more detail, showing more delicate curves and shadow. I also wanted to add something more intricate and decorative to it, I felt that the letter alone wasn't enough to encompass all the themes I wanted to hit, so I added something more to the letter to make it pop and give it more of an elaboate feel to help symbolize wealth and the time period. I am still making tweaks and alterations to these lines and such, but I wanted to post my progress and see what everyone thinks!

The second is a new approach. I felt like this new sketch show's gives off more of an "extravagant" feel, but when coupled with some ornamental detail and color, I feel like it also might work. I will be playing with this letterform a little more to see where this one takes me!

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald - image 19 - student project

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald - image 20 - student project

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald - image 21 - student project

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald - image 22 - student project

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald - image 23 - student project

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald - image 24 - student project

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Updated: November 8, 2013

Per everyones comments and some more exploring, I was able to get a few more rough sketches down. I'm still playing around with the idea of the lowercase "g", but in these most recent illerations starting playing around more with the capital "G". I tried to incorporate more ideas of wealth and granger into these, more over the top and trying to work the whole ideal of the "American Dream" into them and being more than you are.

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald - image 25 - student project

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald - image 26 - student project

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald - image 27 - student project

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First Post – November 7, 2013

For my drop cap, I am choosing F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby". I am very fascinated by all of the different themes circling around throughout the book – the wealth, the classic feel, the ornimentary, the longing and emptiness, and all at a time when the idea of the "American Dream" was being perpetuated.

For this dropcap I am choosing to design the letter "G". My goals are to incorporate not so much the major themes of the book necessarily, but more so the feeling and notions behind what the major charactes feel – mainly the main character, Gatsby.

Some of the elements I want to incoporate into this are:

- Wealth and Class

- Being bigger (more) than you area.

- Elegance

- Emptiness/Longing

- The "American Dream"

Kicking around some of the ideas I inteded, I came up with a few initial ideas, and posted them below. I really like the idea of a free flowing letterform, something that reflects Gatsby's personality, but a contained letterform, also showing that even though Gatsby has attained all this money and wealth, there is sitll something he can't escape – his longing for Daisy.

I also chose to use a lowercase "g" to further push the idea of being more than you are (ie. the "g" may be large and fancy on the outside, but does that really reflect what it truly is?)

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald - image 28 - student project

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald - image 29 - student project

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Daniel Greco

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