"First line code--android" cover birth record

"The first line of code--android" has been listed fast one months, the current sales are still good, but also special thanks to the support of many friends. In fact, a book if you want to sell well, in addition to the content must be given to force, the design of the cover is also crucial, and the book's cover is undoubtedly in the content of the enrichment and draped on a layer of gorgeous coat. As an author, my task is actually to write the content well, all other related work is not my responsibility. All the details of the book's cover design were grabbed by Mr. Bryan Chen Bing, who then recorded the birth of the book's cover on the Turing community. With his approval, I transferred this article to my blog, and I also let interested friends know some of the little stories that are not known.

All of the following first-person "I" refer to "Bryan Chen Bing".

The birth of the cover of every good book is not a matter of ease. Not only is it not easy, but in fact the opposite, almost without exception, is a difficult process. But if you finally get what you want, and a book finds its cover, the hard process will have a happy ending.

What do you mean, a book found its cover? When you get this cover, there's a strong sense in your brain that there won't be any other cover to fit the book.

This book, when I first gave it the title, I realized it was a good title, but it was a very difficult task to design a good cover for the title. "The first line of code" is a series that I planned for beginners to programmers, this book is the first book in this series.

In planning this book (this series), I want to have a unique form of breakthrough, to the reader with new ideas and unique reading experience. To that end, I decided to introduce an XP, upgrade, and treasure system to it, something that had not happened in any of the previous computer books, as far as I know, including all other categories of books.

Based on these considerations, the cover of this book must meet the following four features:
One, should be solemn, credible, can let the reader feel an inherent strength, let the reader feel this book is the knowledge is trustworthy.
Second, there is a sense of mystery, with some magical realism of the color, so that readers feel this book and other books obviously different;
Third, so that beginners have intimacy, it sense must also be reflected in it, so that readers feel this scene he is very familiar with the sense of identity.
Four, to have an absolute visual impact, in the shop top pin book, are the stamp size of the display area, it is impossible for you to hold the hand in a careful examination, if the cover can not be in the size of the stamp to give you visual appeal, but this cover no matter how wonderful design is a failure. Design a cover is not difficult, but to design a good-looking cover is quite difficult, and to design a good-looking and can sell the cover is very difficult things.

To achieve this effect, I began to conceive the cover. In the "first line of code," the words of the font on the idea of a flash in my mind, but immediately I was denied, so that the effect will be too much publicity, but also inevitably fall into the cliché, and do not make it like the financial books.

I told myself, since it is the book for beginners to read, it is necessary to let beginners have intimacy, to design a typical element, so that a beginner to see it intimacy and familiar feeling immediately spontaneously. Eight years ago, I was in Tsinghua had planned a "first step" series, when I designed the cover element is in the middle of the screen has a "hello,world" words, very eye-catching.

Hello,world is undoubtedly the most familiar element for beginners, but I do not like to repeat myself, for this "first line" series, I would like to re-ponder an element. I think of when I was just learning programming, in the late-night computer work in front of the scene, but also think of the late-night writing computer books when the scene, whether it is writing code, or writing computer books, late at night computer work situation is every programmer, whether novice or veteran are very familiar with the image of intimacy, Even this is how you are at this moment. So I decided to use this scene to make this cover key recognition element.

So what are the specific elements of this recognition element? I began to further conceive of what elements this scenario specifically contains. With my intuition, I let my mind spontaneously generate images to take me forward, I saw a small programmer sitting at the desk, his back to me, in front of a ThinkPad notebook computer, the left side has an ipad, the right hand side has a Samsung note big screen mobile phone, there is a bowl of freshly brewed instant noodles, a cup of juice, A stack of books, because is engaged in the development of Android, so the book also has an Android small robot hand, there is a pot of green plant (I again in my mind to look closely, originally is a basin cactus). I draw these elements on the paper. In order to enrich the picture, I looked at my own desk, then added a water cup, a few pieces of paper and a pen in the picture. In order to make the picture more vivid and interesting, I added a kitten on the ground beside the table, it was curious to look at the bottom of the table in a certain direction, it seems to find something different.

This is the sketch I drew at the time:

I also drew some furniture around the main screen, a window, and an astronomical telescope in front of the window (the appearance of the telescope had two meanings, it was the hobby of the little programmer, and it meant the dream), and then I realized that the whole picture looked like my room.

I let illustrator Hu Jun, who worked with me for years, draw this illustration. This is the first version of the illustration:

Not cute, and too realistic, lack of some magical sense, so continue to modify, get the following version:

It's a little bit cute and tastes a little bit. So, I let Toshitake first to take a look at the color, see effect. I gave Toshitake an illustration of the effect (this is a "dream or want to have, in case of the realization of a" book), let him in accordance with the effect of this illustration to color. Because I hoped that this book the picture to be warm, bright, the color is rich, looked at lets the human heart joyful, brings the person the sunlight upward feeling, simultaneously the time is the evening, therefore this illustration very conforms to my request.

As a result, toshitake a heroic play, get the following this let me crash glasses effect:

At that time there were some coloring adjustments, but always far from the effect I want (toshitake not very good at the kind of coloring style I want), so I decisively give up coloring, decided to use black and white to achieve this illustration.

I began to think about how to make black and white illustrations to produce enough strength, it must have enough detail, while the brush strokes to bold, the coarse strokes itself will bring a sense of detail and texture. Brush strokes are too thin, there must be a sense of thin, lack of strength. Because of the lack of detail and led to lack of strength, so I gave the illustrator to find some sketch style illustrations, let him to that effect on the close, after several changes, to get the following version.

The screen began to have some heavy sense and strength, but the character's head is a problem, not big enough to round, continue to modify. After several revisions, get a satisfactory version (I thought the final version).

Then I asked Toshitake to draw an illustration of the back cover with my other sketch.

This back-cover illustration is in line with the illustration, the cover illustration is in the home (house) to see the scene, and the back page illustration is the same time in the house outside (the community) to see this scene, the whole building lights are extinguished, everyone fell asleep, only the small programmer's room still lights, is seriously hard to write code. His dream is to be a good programmer.

Therefore, I wrote a slogan in the back cover:
I waved the keyboard and the book,
Vowed to write the world plainly.
The small gray block under the two lines represents the blinking cursor.

Then, I put the full cover design materials (including illustrations, cover propaganda, catalogues, samples, etc.) to my designer mung bean (real name Pan Jianyong), and the phone with him to communicate the design requirements of the cover. A week later, I got the following version, and I was further sank in the chair as I was already sitting in the chair.

It is a pot of slag, and the picture is very monotonous, there is no one to flip through the idea. Mung Bean told me that he felt that this black and white illustration limited his design, because in order to match a black and white painting, the background of the cover is almost black and white (at least I and he at that time, he thought of the same thinking). So, things almost back to the starting point, or must make a coloring of the illustrations, just good follow-up design to play. I comforted the green bean injured heart, decided to continue to find the right illustrator. I looked through hundreds of pages on the chuangyiren.cn website, found a number of good illustrators, and then I picked an illustrator from him and asked him to start drawing the illustration after he spoke on the phone.

I am at this time to this illustration of the painting wind should be what, have some changes in the idea, I feel that if the picture and the above mentioned "dream" the book of the same painting, will appear too cartoon, some low, and lack of mystery, and this book contains this set of refreshing, Incredible upgrade and treasure system feeling is not very good, at the same time, this picture lacks thick sense and strength, because of too much color, in the shop Small map display when also difficult to form visual impact. Therefore, I decided to abandon the painting wind, instead of looking for a mysterious, thick, and powerful visual impact of the painting wind.

At this moment, I suddenly think of a cartoon film I have seen before, "The Secret of Kyle." The style of the cartoon is right for the book.

But finally got the effect of the illustration and I want to still be a big difference.

I felt a bit of a crash at this point, and I felt that my initial design was probably pretty good, but it was difficult to achieve, and even if it was exactly what I had imagined, the impact was probably still not big enough.

While looking for a new illustrator and a new illustrator to try out, I also perfected the original sketch in Jean Junbu, because at this point I suddenly thought that I could not just write on the cover "the first computer book to introduce XP, upgrade and treasure System!" "Take it for granted that the reader will believe, and will feel the meaning of this sentence." I have to show this unique experience and upgrade system directly on the cover of the book, so it is clearly not enough to draw a small programmer, but also to have the characters, characters, and objects of the android deity created in this system.

So, I let toshitake add such seven elements to the screen:

One, Android seniors lost the practice card
Two, the perimeter keeper.
Three, the confidence strengthens vigorously the pill
Four, the ancient Qi book
Five, God Tree
Six, coarse Android shirt
Seven, Interface brick home (Mage styling)

I drew a sketch and explained the image of these elements to toshitake.

The next day, I got a small ox Demon King (Toshitake), and the wizard that forgot to run out of the software (Toshitake imagined Wizard).

I calmed down the mood, adjust the good thinking, continue to communicate with Toshitake. I found all of the seven elements in the online I am satisfied with the shape, and then let Toshitake reference them for painting, sure enough, this time close to a lot.

But the Guardian's demeanor is not powerful enough, and is not tall enough to feel the character of God, more like a good temper in the free market to sell pork fat vendors, wizards of the height is not enough, feeling like the land in the journey to the world or the role of dwarfs. I let Toshitake imagine the gods of the indomitable spirit in the temples of Greece and Egypt, feel their size and greatness, experience their majesty, and after several revisions, I got a satisfactory version.

The illustrations are perfect, but the overall design of the cover is still unresolved. I concentrate on just one question, how to make the picture has visual impact, obviously must keep the color of the solid as large as possible, because once the screen is scattered by a variety of colors and color, the size of the stamp on the online shop is more than what the visual area, so I think must adopt the entire cover with a single tone scheme, Optional colors have red, yellow, gold, blue, green, full of pondering and experience, I chose the red, Blue is also very impact, but whether it is read the book content or this set of upgrade system, you will not have in mind the color of blue. Your mind will produce the color green, but the visual impact of green on the Web page is too weak, in the force of the upward pressure is also poor. Red is the most suitable, but can not be red, red is too dazzling, and slightly vulgar, so I used a dark some red, mung Bean said he was added to the red 20 black, out of this effect is very good.

In order to make the red occupy a larger visual area, I think of a scheme, in the foreground color only keep the small programmer and the kitten is white, and the other elements (guardian, God Tree, ancient books, wizards, etc.) are placed in the background of the red, as shading, so it will not be distracting, And there is a kind of people who are in the spirit of the small programmer in the mind of the imagination or memory of the charm. In addition, the individual red, even with these divine elements to do the shading or a little bit of a lack of level, I let the mung bean in the shading to add some plant leaves. I chose the age of dinosaurs in the existence of ferns leaves, because these leaves have a innate sense of mystery and vicissitudes of life, looming, foil the book should be the mysterious and solemn taste.

Earlier, because the cover on the propaganda language too much, inconvenient design, so I let mung bean to some of the propaganda language design to the waist seal. Waist seal to these important propaganda language can play a better propaganda role, at the same time the cover itself is also clean a lot.

At this point, the entire cover design is complete.

Full unfold cover:

"First line code--android" cover birth record