Project Report

Presentation Boards

Final Book Layout

This is the layout of my final book. Overall I am pleased with the way the pages turned out and adding a corner design for the illustration was definitely a good idea, I think it would have looked a bit plain without!

Final Printed Book

End Pages

If I had more time to finish things off I would have like to have designed a pattern for the end pages, however because I want to make a dust cover with my binding design I had to use the Italian paper we used in our book binding workshop. I went down to the print room and asked for the same paper, I really like the slight texture of it. I also managed to find a colour that both corresponded with the buckram of the cover and the inside imagery. 

Prints in the Home

Another application I wanted to explore was to produce limited edition prints. These would be distributed and sold in book shops, art shops and maybe spaces like colours may vary, alongside the publication. When I went to Waterstones I noticed some posters and prints available in the gift section. I can imagine the scene illustrations framed in a child's bedroom or maybe in a conservatory surrounded by house plants.

Kindles & I-pads

After thinking about publishing, the next step was to consider e-books and interactive options that are now available everywhere, especially is distributed as a novel rather than a picture book. To see what this would look like I mocked up a page from The Secret Garden with my spot illustration as a chapter header, as well as the cover design. The image below is what my book would look like when someone opened it on a kindle/i-pad/etc. The idea of interactive technology really interests me and is something I would like to think about more in future projects, especially in relation to promotion and social media.

Inside Novel

Something I stated in my proposal was to design illustrations that would be appropriate for an adult audience. Because of this I did a mock up of how the inside of the novel could look. This would ultimately be the main purpose of the work, to sit alongside text in this kind of format. The motifs I made work well for the chapter spot illustrations, and the quotes could be a part of the layout underneath the full bleed images.

Binding Design

Today I made the final design for my dust jacket. I created the wrap around as one long image. This is partly because this means I can shape it around the books I have already made and fit it to the right size. Because of the pattern and background being white it doesn't matter too much if the sizing is slightly out. I worked generally from my roughs at the start of the project but a lot of the pattern I drew straight on to the screen, adding things as I went along. This method worked well for the natural chaotic pattern of wildflowers and I enjoyed overlaying the different shapes.

Mega Crit

I couldn't make it to the crit today as I wasn't feeling very well. However, my buddy Shelly very kindly put my work (book) out with a feedback sheet for people to leave comments on. I feel very encouraged by what people wrote, and I got some really good suggestions of what I could do next. Unfortunately, I didn't think about embossing the cover of my book and was thinking about a dust cover, I think if I considered this earlier I would have tried it out but there's not enough time now!

Book Binding

It was a challenge for me to remember how to bind the actual book. I remembered really enjoying the process of doing it during the workshop. To try and do it by myself for the first time I printed the hand out from e-studio. It went fairly smoothly and I ended up with two hardback books with my illustrations inside, something I am very happy about! It's nice to know I have this option when making a book, it just feels more professional and doesn't take that long to do. 

I chose a greeny coloured buckram for the cover to compliment my illustrations. Although in this picture it looked more brown! I want to make a cover to go around the book, hopefully I will be able to do this in time for the deadline on Tuesday!

Title Page - Inside

I had to create a title page to include on the first page when you open the book, technically the third page, as I wanted to include two blank ones in order to bind it properly at the beginning. I remembered from speaking to James in the print dungeon that to print a booklet from InDesign the document must contains pages that are a multiple of 4. Including spare pages and a title page helps me to get this up to 16 in total, which will work for print, hopefully!

Book Page Layout - Mock

Page Layout Mock-up

My idea from the beginning of my roughing stages was to include the quote I have illustrated from on the opposing side of the image. This way I can print a whole book and it wont feel too empty. I don't think the work load will be too much as I still have some time to finalise motifs and add in the writing as I go along. I also want to create a different border for each page, one motif duplicated in each corner.

Developing Motifs

I am at the stage now where I am thinking more about the opposing pages to the full bleed imagery. I have sketched out a few corner design patterns and floral motifs that I may use. I just need to work out which ideas with go best with each illustration. So far, I think I want to pair:

Illustration 1

Motif - Snake & Leaves

Corner design - Floral

Illustration 2

Motif - Dressing Table

Corner design - Leafy

Illustration 3

Motif - Globe & Leaves

Corner design - Loopy Vines

Illustration 4

Motif - Watering Can & Squirrel

 Corner design - Weaving vines

Illustration 5

Motif - Bouquet

Corner design - Vines & Leaves

Illustration 6

Motif - Key & Leaves

Corner design - Smaller floral