Book Cover Art

[Potahu_Nua]

For a while I’ve been wanting to design book covers/posters to represent each year of Bionicle in a unified series. Now I’ve made enough progress I wanted to share them and get some feedback.

A big inspiration were the Adventure Time box sets. Each season features a different character, with each “layer” of the box revealing another part of them like an x-ray. Since masks are such an integral part of Bionicle, I thought it would be fun to do something similar, with the outside slip cover showcasing an iconic mask, and the inside revealing a more vulnerable form of that character. (Athough so far I only have Tahu in this state.)

Each book will follow these rules: Year, Character, Colour, Element

Outside cover: Dark side, Collectible / graphic (from latter half of story)

Inside cover: “True self” / Vulnerable side, location (from first half of story)

Book 1: 2001, Tahu, Red, Fire

Outside cover: Shadow Tahu, Makoki stones/sundial

Inside cover: Maskless Tahu, Ta-Wahi beach

Who else but Tahu?. You’ll probably recognize the modified sundial pattern from MNOG.

Book 2: 2002, Lewa, Green, Air/Jungle

Outside cover: Krana, Bohrok hive

Inside cover: Maskless Lewa?, Kini-Nui

Lewa made the most sense as one of the few Toa possessed by a Krana, though I did consider Pohatu briefly.

I don’t really want to repeat the maskless Toa idea, but the alternative would be Lewa Nuva. Unless I make Lewa Nuva the front?

Book 3: 2003, Pohatu Nuva, Brown/Orange, Stone

Outside cover: Powerless Pohatu, Nuva cube/Toa symbols

Inside cover: Pohatu Mata?, Kolhii Field

This one was tricky. Takanuva would be the obvious representative, but I wanted to save him for 2008. I also considered Gali Nuva / Hahli, but it made more sense to me to leave the water representative for 2007. Unfortunately none of the stone Toa really stand out as main protagonists, but at least Pohatu had some memorable scenes from both halves of the story. Not to mention he’s the patron Toa of Kolhii!

Book 4: 2004, Makuta, Black, Shadow

Outside cover: “Ultimate Dume”, Great Disks

Inside cover: Turaga Dume, Coliseum

I thought this would be a neat twist on the idea. Since 2004 is essentially Makuta’s origin story as a villain (one of them anyway), his “dark side” and true self are almost reversed.

Book 5: 2005, Whenua, Purple, Earth

Outside cover: Hordika, Matoran spheres? Webs?

Inside cover: Turaga Whenua, Archives

This was another tricky one. Earth Toa have even less prominence in the story than stone. I feel like Whenua is a good choice though, not only because of how important the archives and Rahi were this year, but how well his connection to the past represents the Turaga.

I’m not entirely sold on the Matoran spheres as a pattern, I just thought it would be a better symbol of the Toa’s goals than a web alone. Maybe I can try to combine the two?

Book 6: 2006, Matoro, Cyan, Ice

Outside cover: Spirit Matoro, 777 Stairs?

Inside cover: Matoran Matoro, Ring of Ice

Matoro had to be either 2006 or 2007. Given that Mahri Nui is underwater though, that left 2006. I always thought the Toa Inika’s first moments on the icy shore were a memorable part of this year, so it works out. There’s also a lot more foreshadowing of Matoro’s fate, so the spirit form makes sense. (If I can get it to look right).

The one thing I’m not happy with is the pattern on the outside cover. I wanted to represent the 777 stairs using the iconic hexagons Voya Nui is known for but…it didn’t work. Any ideas?

Book 7: 2007, Hahli, Blue, Water

Outside cover: “Warlord” Hahli, Toa Terrain Crawler “Radar”/packaging graphic

Inside cover: Matoran Hahli?, The Pit/Mahri Nui

Ok, some of these ideas are a stretch. Hahli joining forces with the Barraki was a memorable scene, and evidence that she isn’t as innocent as she may have been as a Matoran. I can’t really depict her becoming a Barraki though…so a silhouette will have to do.

I don’t know what to call the pattern in the back, but it shows up in a lot of the marketing for the Toa Mahri, and in my mind represents the Toa Terrain Crawler and their mission to destroy the cord.

Book 8: 2008, Takanuva, White/Gray, Light

Outside cover: Shadow Takanuva, Codrex door/star chart/packaging graphic

Inside cover: Takua, Karda Nui

I had thought about other characters. Lewa to represent the air and swamp. Pohatu because he was orange. In the end though, it had to be Takanuva. Karda Nui is his homeland, it ‘s the first time we see other Av-Matoran, and he had a whole side adventure through the multiverse. Plus this is the only time we see a dark side of him. I chose grey/white rather than gold to reference his 2010 set, and to avoid too many yellow/orange books.

The circular graphic is interesting. If you look closely, you can see rivets in a circular pattern on the exterior of the codrex. This pattern is also used on the packaging, and looks like star charts in real life. I wanted to depict the Mata Nui constellation from MNOG, but it would have been unrecognizable behind Takanuvas head.

Book 9: 2009-2010, Mata Nui, Yellow, Sand? Life?

Outside cover: Toa Mata Nui/Great Spirit Robot, Valley of the Maze

Inside cover: Toa Ignika? Prototype Robot?, Bara Magna/Arena Magna

Another packaging graphic, but at least this one plays a clear story role! I’m not quite sure what to do for the inside reveal. Both of Mata Nui’s Toa forms look too similar, and the ignika isn’t really him…Maybe a maskless glatorian head?

Any suggestions for things I can improve? I don’t know if I’ll end up printing these as proper dust jackets, but if there is enough interest, I’ll consider making a mockup.

[Ghid]

To quickly summarize my thoughts:

Book 1: Goated as is tbh
Book 2: I’d either put Lewa on the outside and Krana Lewa on the inside or Tahnok on the outside and Tahnok Kal on the inside.
Book 3: Unfortunately Pohatu Nuva is just a poor representative for '03, and it really would work better for Takua on the outside ans Takanuva on the inside.
Book 4: I’d swap what you’ve proposed (Turaga Dume on the outside and Makuta on the inside) imo. Plays into the whole double identity and highlights Dume being a central character of the entire year.
Book 5: Whenua’s got a bit of a Pohatu problem in that neither of them really did anything notable in the years they’re representing here. Vakama would be a much better fit for the covers, Hordika on the outside and Metru on the inside, given his plot-central role in the movie and the following escapades of Time Trap.
Only problem is, the purple looks really good. Hmm.
Book 6: Matoro is a great pic here, but imo he’d do better in '07. Only problem is, everyone’s so evenly spread out here it’s hard to think of a single character that adequately encapsulates the entire year. Given the promotional material and the existence/plot relevance of Vezon, however, I think it’d have to be Vezok on the outside and Vezon on the inside.
Book 7: It’s gotta be Matoro outside/Matoro with Ignika inside. I know water and blue and whatnot, but the year is Matoro’s and the plot is Matoro’s. Cunning as she was, Hahli just can’t compete as a representative for the entire year with the Bionicle savior.
Book 8: Yeah, Takanuva’s the best pic here. Sucks to have him twice, but at least in both cases he’s decidedly the best representative for the year. If there was anyone else I’d switch it up, but similarly to '06 there’s too even a distribution of attention given to the characters. Greg Farshtey’s reasonable writing standards strike again
Book 9: Once again, goated choice. Mata Nui on the outside and the GSR on the inside is the best possible option, as it’s Mata Nui’s years through and through.

Overall, this is a neat concept, and the art thus far has been very nice! I’m looking forward to how this turns out. Have you done any other Bionicle-related art?

[Hawkflight]

I’m also going to vote for Takanuva/Takua representing ‘03. He’s the iconic character of that year.

Something else to consider is the colors prominent in art during each year. If I had to pick a year for a Toa of Stone, an option is 2006, since the imagery featured a lot of lava (molten stone) and mountain slopes. But you could also go with jaller for ‘06 and Pohatu for ‘01, to get in more of the tan beaches from the Toa’s arrival videos. It’s not as good of a pick but I’d slot Matoro into 2007 - his colors can still fit the cold sea vibe, and that is the year of his most iconic scene. I think 2008 is potentially the best year for Makuta - after all, he was the winner that year, not any Toa. Lastly, 2005 features a lot of green from the Visorak webs - I’d say that green is more of a focus that year than ‘02, which makes me think more of the silver from the Nui arc - and Matau is a pretty notable character in that arc.

[Au-Plau-Se]

The Story book covers you designed showing half faces are beautiful.

[Ghid]

@Hawkflight

I think 2008 is potentially the best year for Makuta - after all, he was the winner that year, not any Toa.

Counterpoint: Makuta didn’t have any actual depiction that year beyond a constellation in the sky and the GSR. It’d be hard to represent him in any form without reverting to one he took prior to that year.

[MakutaOisli]

Magnificent. Simply magnificent.

[Potahu_Nua]

Thanks for the feedback! Actually, I have shared some Bionicle doodles here a while back. There are some other ideas in my head, but nothing else ready to share.

You all make good points about the character choices. To be honest when I asked for suggestions, I was thinking more about background elements than swapping characters, but I do agree with you that some of them may not fit as well.

Vakama should be the one to represent the Toa Metru. My problem is I don’t want any overlap between elements or colours, so it would be either him or Tahu. If we just take highly marketed characters, most of them would be Fire anyway (with the exception of 06 and 07). My plan instead was to include one Toa from each of the 6 main elements, plus Takanuva, Makuta, and Mata Nui all in a different colour.

Red - Fire

Orange/Brown - Stone

Yellow – Mata Nui

Green – Air

Cyan - Ice

Blue - Water

Purple - Earth

Black - Makuta

White/Gray - Takanuva

I’d prefer not to have a villain other than Makuta mostly because I want characters who appear throughout the whole series (even if they aren’t as “important”). Though I would consider Vezon to represent the unfinished serials if I made a 10^th cover.

That’s also why I’m looking at the settings and themes as a whole. While Whenua may not be as relevant to 05, Metru Nui had a lot of stories take place underground. Plus the purple and green better suit the darker and mysterious tone of the story than orange or red would in my mind.

For book 3, I’m not just taking into account Mask of Light, but the Bohrok Kal arc as well, where Pohatu is one of the first Toa to appear (at least in the novels). And even if he doesn’t do much in the movie, he is one of the 3 at the Kolhii match.

All that said, I’d consider swapping some of them around to something like this:

01: Tahu, – Locked in.

02: Lewa – The only one to wear a Krana.

03: Gali – Larger role than Pohatu, indirect reference to Hahli through Kaukau, plus the Mata Nui books have a more appealing red, blue, green colour scheme. (Takanuva is better for 08)

04: Makuta – Like @Ghid said, he has a better presence here, and more forms to work with. I’ll consider moving Dume to the outside though.

05: Whenua? - Still has issues of relevancy, but the setting works well enough. / Onewa? - Scene with Krahka was cool, but brown just doesn’t fit the year

06: Hewkii? - Same issues as other stone Toa, and the yellow would overlap with Mata Nui. I suppose I could make him brown anyway though, and @Hawkflight is right that the setting has more rocky and barren landscapes. / Nuparu? - Looks cool, purple suits darker storyline.

07: Matoro - As suggested. I still prefer ice in Voya Nui, but it’s not a big deal.

08: Takanuva – For the same reasons as Makuta, he works better here.

09: Mata Nui – Of course. Might play with which forms to use.

I’ll try to do some rough sketches to see how they look before I decide.

[Au-Plau-Se]

Say @Potahu_Nua will we get another version of the covers but with the tiny minifig version of Tahu? (The one with the cute eyes) and the Bionicle lego brick set with Tahu and Takua next?

[Potahu_Nua]

I’ve started working on different versions of the interior covers. Keep in mind these would represent an alternate form of the character from the outside cover. (Pohatu Nuva vs. Mata for example). The idea is to show them in a setting inspired by various locations from that year, not necessarily a specific moment in the story. (Trust me, I know the Toa Mahri were not Matoran in 2007!)

Book 1: Tahu on beach (Seen in first post)

Book 2: Lewa in Kini-Nui.

Book 3: Pohatu in Kolhii field / Gali near Ga-Koro temple.

Book 4: Dume (Makuta) outside Colisieum

Book 5: Whenua in Archives / Onewa near a Visorak tower in Po-Metru

Book 6: Matoro on Voya Nui shore / Nuparu in Piraka’s Lair / Hewkii in Karzahnii

Book 7: Hahlii / Matoro in The Pit near Mahri Nui

Book 8: Takua in Karda Nui

Book 9: Mata Nui in Bara Magna

After doing these, I almost want to make one for every character, but…that’s not really the point. (Remember, I only want one of each colour). I think overall I still prefer my original choices of characters, but what do you guys think? Are these better picks? Do the background settings clarify anything, or make it more confusing? Is this a waste of time?

There are some issues I have still. Takua is unrecognizable without red and blue, and I’m not sure about the Av-Matoran build. He and Nuparu also have the same mask. And I want to give Lewa his Miru Nuva. (Or maybe I should remove everyone’s mask on the inside?) I’ll probably swap around some of the forms from the outside covers, (Mata Nui, Makuta, and Lewa Nuva). At least to see what I prefer.

Say @Potahu_Nua will we get another version of the covers but with the tiny minifig version of Tahu? (The one with the cute eyes) and the Bionicle lego brick set with Tahu and Takua next?

Well, I don’t know about that, but it would be a funny alternative!

[Au-Plau-Se]

The alternate artworks of the Bionicle characters are awesome. Say for the next art will we see a cover showing half the face of Tahu and the other half the caricature of Christian Faber? This could be used in a cover story “The making of Bionicle from Christian Faber’s perspective Deep Dive” or something. I dunno the title would be up to you since he was the one who was inspired from how soldiers would come from tiny pills to cure the big body such as the Giant Mata Nui Robot which would represent the human body .

[Fluffy]

This artwork is GOAT material! Great job!

[Sabretooth]

I really like these!