Temporary LoL name covers

Mysterious LoL label

Eventually I plan to make a complex and EPIC  book cover for the LoL series, but currently am unable to take that step, not until I design important characters meant to be present on the cover. Since that will likely be a long way down the road, I've settled with making a temporary name cover for the series, just enough to add interest to each page till a main cover can be provided.

Yesterday I searched around desperately for some vector images of jungle leaves, but to no avail. I did however find some jungle backdrops to experiment with. 

Cheery LoL label

The image "Cheery LoL label" was my first attempt for a label, and it seemed all right. I used an already made jungle vector scene, and added a dark overlay strip to better show the bright green text.

At first it seemed pretty good, but there was something about it which didn't quite match the LoL story theme. Sure it's jungle themed, but I found it came across as too happy, too bright (like a vacation postcard). LoL is more serious, and has some darker qualities and mysteries I 

wanted to express.

Because I couldn't find any vector leaves, I settled with using what I had on hand in my Photoshop shapes, and made my own background to express the mystery of LoL as best I could. 

I wanted to make the temporary title "Mysterious LoL Label" captivating and mysterious; something which would hold a quality that urges readers to feel curious, and have an urge, a hunger to enter into this jungle scene and feed their curiosity to know more about this tale of a big green hero who lurks in the forest, where soon the story of his life will begin, as we start to read the Life of Lewa series.

How I made my title

I did my best to make this scene fitting, felt black was the best choice for my canvas, since black holds a nice class and mystery to it. Then I used two different shades of green for my leaves, hand drew in some vines, and used the dodge and burn tool to add interest to my plants. 

I chose island style text, decided to make the title blue because it showed up better, and represents the lens color on Lewa's Phantoka mask. And of course I couldn't resist not adding some Matoran in metallic gold below the blue title. 

I added a misty green haze in the background as a final touch, just to give it that extra sense of mystery; and lets face it, what's a jungle without some misty areas.