Ancient Greece - This is the first cover I fully designed the simplistic art style used throughout the series. I think this is my favourite of the 10 covers. It may be the warm colour palette of the mediterranean. I was originally in two minds about adding the ceramic pots, added later in the pencil rough. I'm glad I did.
The Stone Age to the Iron Age - I was inspired by cave painting art. In the rough only a small part had cave painting. In the final artwork I used more of the cow style and moved it to bottom right as a herd. I then recreated another cave painting style of deer, top right. I love the central vertical road splitting the art leading the eye to the entrance to the village at the top.
Invaders - I had great fun designing the shields on the Viking ship. Even though they are quite small on the page.
Ancient Egypt - I added hieroglyphs to the Red Sea Hills Range, this being an important part of recording Egyptian history and their language. I love the camels!.
The Maya - I had to change the sculpted figure, bottom right, simple because I couldn't find the original reference source to work from.
The Victorian Times - There was a balance here to show the filth and dirt of the industrial age without it looking too bleak or dull, and to also try to celebrate our Victorian heritage.
Living Memories - A few layout changes from the rough to the finished art, I made more use of the food tins, and I originally had a man carrying the food basket in a Supermarket, but at the time of the first Supermarkets men rarely went shopping for food or did the weekly shop.
World Events - My favourite part of this artwork is showing the journey of Amy Johnson's flight from England to Australia, with all the stops on the way.
Significant People - My favourite part of this artwork is the star field in the background of the astronaut which is also the wounded soldiers blanket.
The series of covers was received very favourably and was deemed a great success.
The Teacher's Guide has items and people from all pupil books. This was like putting a puzzle together and you don't have the lid to tell what it looks like!
Available to buy online. https://collins.co.uk/pages/primary-history-collins-primary-history
