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I saw my Chinese classmate reading a book whose cover page is really fancy, though I don’t know the Chinese characters on it.enter image description here How could I create a cover page in my own classnotes like that?

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  • There is a rather straightforward part, the graphics, which can be done with TikZ (for instance) and a part which requires familiarity with the Chinese characters. It seems to me that anyone trying to answer this will have to know TikZ and these characters. – marmot Feb 19 at 3:02
  • @marmot I think these characters is book name, these characters are not important. – user450201 Feb 19 at 3:09
  • Thank you for a really good question. I'm going to be up all night, trying to recreate what @marmot has done. – GermanShepherd Feb 19 at 5:41
  • @GermanShepherd Sorry that this question confused you so long time. – user450201 Feb 19 at 9:20
  • 1
    @user450201: My comment was not intended as an answer. But be aware that books and covers are protected by copyrights. This book (and its cover) is allowed to be used, as long as the author is credited, and the license is given. You did not give the license, so you did not follow copyright rules. I tried to help you by mentioning the license. – Pakk Feb 19 at 14:31
32

Can one do something like this? Yes. Most likely the curves in the upper right part are are some sort of Apollonius (Golden Ratio?) circles but I was too lazy to look them up.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{intersections,decorations.text}
\definecolor{c1}{RGB}{62, 97, 127}
\definecolor{c2}{RGB}{104, 182, 182}
\definecolor{c3}{RGB}{107, 190, 190}
\definecolor{c4}{RGB}{100, 172, 174}
\begin{document}
\thispagestyle{empty}
\begin{tikzpicture}[overlay,remember picture,font=\sffamily\bfseries]
 \draw[very thick,c4,name path=big arc] ([xshift=-2mm]current page.north) arc(150:285:11)
 coordinate[pos=0.225] (x0);
 \begin{scope}
  \clip ([xshift=-2mm]current page.north) arc(150:285:11) --(current page.north
  east);
  \fill[c4!50,opacity=0.25] ([xshift=4.55cm]x0) circle (4.55);
  \fill[c4!50,opacity=0.25] ([xshift=3.4cm]x0) circle (3.4);
  \fill[c4!50,opacity=0.25] ([xshift=2.25cm]x0) circle (2.25);
  \draw[very thick,c4!50] (x0) arc(-90:30:6.5);
  \draw[very thick,c4] (x0) arc(90:-30:8.75);
  \draw[very thick,c4!50,name path=arc1] (x0) arc(90:-90:4.675);
  \draw[very thick,c4!50] (x0) arc(90:-90:2.875);
  \path[name intersections={of=big arc and arc1,by=x1}];
  \draw[very thick,c4,name path=arc2] (x1) arc(135:-20:4.75);
  \draw[very thick,c4!50] (x1) arc(135:-20:8.75);
  \path[name intersections={of=big arc and arc2,by={aux,x2}}];
  \draw[very thick,c4!50] (x2) arc(180:50:2.25);
 \end{scope} 
 \path[decoration={text along path,text color=c4,
                 raise = -2.8ex,
                 text  along path,
                 text = {|\sffamily\bfseries|02/18/2019},
                 text align = center,
             },
             decorate
         ] ([xshift=-2mm]current page.north) arc(150:245:11);
 %
 \begin{scope}
  \path[clip,postaction={fill=c3}]
  ([xshift=2cm,yshift=-8cm]current page.center) rectangle ++ (4.2,7.7);
  \fill[c2] ([xshift=0.5cm,yshift=-8cm]current page.center)
   ([xshift=0.5cm,yshift=-8cm]current page.center)  arc(180:60:2)
    |- ++ (-3,6) --cycle;
  \draw[very thick,c4] ([xshift=-1.5cm,yshift=-8cm]current page.center) 
  arc(180:0:2);
  \draw[very thick,c4] ([xshift=0.5cm,yshift=-8cm]current page.center) 
  arc(180:0:2);
  \draw[very thick,c4] ([xshift=2.5cm,yshift=-8cm]current page.center) 
  arc(180:0:2);
  \draw[very thick,c4] ([xshift=4.5cm,yshift=-8cm]current page.center) 
  arc(180:0:2);
  \fill[red] ([xshift=2.5cm,yshift=-8cm]current page.center) +(60:2) circle(1.5mm)
  node[above right=2mm]{$\displaystyle\rho=\frac{1+\sqrt{-3}}{2}$};
 \end{scope}
 %
 \fill[c1] ([xshift=2cm,yshift=-8cm]current page.center) rectangle ++ (-12.7,7.7);
 \node[text=white,anchor=west,scale=5,inner sep=0pt] at
 ([xshift=-8cm,yshift=-3.25cm]current page.center) {Some text};
 \node[text=white,anchor=west,scale=2.5,inner sep=0pt] at
 ([xshift=-8cm,yshift=-6cm]current page.center) {Some text};
 %
 \draw[gray,line width=5mm] 
 ([xshift=2mm,yshift=-1mm]current page.south west) rectangle ([xshift=-2mm,yshift=1mm]current
 page.north east);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

enter image description here

Addendum: version with inputs by Henri Menke and Raaja (thanks!).

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{intersections,decorations.text}
\definecolor{c1}{RGB}{62, 97, 127}
\definecolor{c2}{RGB}{104, 182, 182}
\definecolor{c3}{RGB}{107, 190, 190}
\definecolor{c4}{RGB}{100, 172, 174}
\definecolor{c5}{RGB}{95, 162, 162}
\begin{document}
\thispagestyle{empty}
\begin{tikzpicture}[overlay,remember picture,font=\sffamily\bfseries]
 \draw[ultra thick,c4,name path=big arc] ([xshift=-2mm]current page.north) arc(150:285:11)
 coordinate[pos=0.225] (x0);
 \begin{scope}
  \clip ([xshift=-2mm]current page.north) arc(150:285:11) --(current page.north
  east);
  \fill[c4!50,opacity=0.25] ([xshift=4.55cm]x0) circle (4.55);
  \fill[c4!50,opacity=0.25] ([xshift=3.4cm]x0) circle (3.4);
  \fill[c4!50,opacity=0.25] ([xshift=2.25cm]x0) circle (2.25);
  \draw[ultra thick,c4!50] (x0) arc(-90:30:6.5);
  \draw[ultra thick,c4] (x0) arc(90:-30:8.75);
  \draw[ultra thick,c4!50,name path=arc1] (x0) arc(90:-90:4.675);
  \draw[ultra thick,c4!50] (x0) arc(90:-90:2.875);
  \path[name intersections={of=big arc and arc1,by=x1}];
  \draw[ultra thick,c4,name path=arc2] (x1) arc(135:-20:4.75);
  \draw[ultra thick,c4!50] (x1) arc(135:-20:8.75);
  \path[name intersections={of=big arc and arc2,by={aux,x2}}];
  \draw[ultra thick,c4!50] (x2) arc(180:50:2.25);
 \end{scope} 
 \path[decoration={text along path,text color=c4,
                 raise = -2.8ex,
                 text  along path,
                 text = {|\sffamily\bfseries|02/18/2019},
                 text align = center,
             },
             decorate
         ] ([xshift=-2mm]current page.north) arc(150:245:11);
 %
 \begin{scope}
  \path[clip,postaction={fill=c3}]
  ([xshift=2cm,yshift=-8cm]current page.center) rectangle ++ (4.2,7.7);
  \draw[c5,ultra thick,fill=c2] ([xshift=0.5cm,yshift=-8cm]current page.center)
   ([xshift=0.5cm,yshift=-8cm]current page.center)  arc(180:60:2)
    |- ++ (-3,6) --cycle;
  \draw[ultra thick,c5] ([xshift=-1.5cm,yshift=-8cm]current page.center) 
  arc(180:0:2);
  \draw[ultra thick,c5] ([xshift=0.5cm,yshift=-8cm]current page.center) 
  arc(180:0:2);
  \draw[ultra thick,c5] ([xshift=2.5cm,yshift=-8cm]current page.center) 
  arc(180:0:2);
  \draw[ultra thick,c5] ([xshift=4.5cm,yshift=-8cm]current page.center) 
  arc(180:0:2);
  \fill[red] ([xshift=2.5cm,yshift=-8cm]current page.center) +(60:2) circle(1.5mm)
  node[above
  right=2mm,text=c5!80!black]{$\rho:=\dfrac{1+\sqrt{-3}}{2}$};
 \end{scope}
 %
 \fill[c1] ([xshift=2cm,yshift=-8cm]current page.center) rectangle ++ (-12.7,7.7);
 \node[text=white,anchor=west,scale=5,inner sep=0pt] at
 ([xshift=-8cm,yshift=-3.25cm]current page.center) {Some text};
 \node[text=white,anchor=west,scale=2.5,inner sep=0pt] at
 ([xshift=-8cm,yshift=-6cm]current page.center) {Some text};
 %
 \draw[gray,line width=5mm] 
 ([xshift=2mm,yshift=-1mm]current page.south west) rectangle ([xshift=-2mm,yshift=1mm]current
 page.north east);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

enter image description here

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  • 1
    Such a nice answer...great... – MadyYuvi Feb 19 at 4:45
  • \sqrt{-3} I have the feeling that there is a typo on the original cover. Also, instead of using \displaystyle you could use \dfrac from amsmath. – Henri Menke Feb 19 at 5:15
  • I don't think it's Apollonian circles, because they don't intersect: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollonian_gasket – Henri Menke Feb 19 at 5:18
  • 1
    @HenriMenke I believe that the cover is correct. \rho is the sixth root of unity, i.e. \rho=(1+\sqrt{-3})/2=(1+\mathrm{i}\sqrt{3})/2=\exp(2\pi\mathrm{i}/6). I agree that these are not the standard Apollonius circles, which is why I wrote "some sort of Apollonius circles". While I believe to understand the inlay figure (which is the fundamental domain of the torus parameter \tau with \rho being the nontrivial selfdual point, I do not remember what the circles are even though I should.) – marmot Feb 19 at 5:24
  • @HenriMenke I crossed out Apollonius, you are right, thanks, the name is inappropriate here. – marmot Feb 19 at 5:32

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