Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Christian Perkins - Publication Design Project 1













I don't have my illustrations done yet, I wanted to see if I was on the right track with this one first. They won't take very long at all so I'll be fine. I've decided to do them in colorless. This spread is basically how I want the rest of the book, the crooked lines in the body text might be distracting and painstaking, but I like it. I also need a better font.... I'm not very experienced with InDesign!




A character sheet of Alice.







Here are some more sketches, just my thoughts on how the illustrations will sit within the body text. There won't be any full page illustrations, just small ones for each chapter. There's a spiral behind the chapter numbers, just a theme I want to continue through out the book. Through out the book there will be ink blotches and spills in the margins and in the text itself. The text body will be crooked and messy, hopefully I figure it out on InDesign. I'll find a hand written, sort of cursive font. Once again, just to keep up my idea about Carroll writing this on the spot one afternoon. The page numbers will be hand written centered on the bottom. Also the chapter numbers and titles will be hand written.













Here are some revised sketches of my book cover, front and back. I'm still playing with color, I'll post some of those experiments up here shortly. It might be just black and white, but I'm leaning towards colored. A limited color range, possibly watercolors or colored pencils.

The spiral behind the title will appear behind every chapter number. I'm still looking for fonts, would it be too weird to have the title hand drawn? The lettering here on the cover is based on Carroll's actual hand drawn version of Alice's Adventure's in Wonderland, you can find the virtual version of that book on the British Library's website. http://www.bl.uk/ in case anyone is interested...















My concept is to approach this as if Lewis Carol had written and drawn it himself right after a crazy drug trip. It will have a very sketchy, messy, spontaneous feel to it, lots of energy. Very Ronald Searle inspired, I'm not sure the colors, it could work in just black and white to further the idea that the author just set to work with a pen and paper right after his acid trip.







Budget: I want to do a 8x10 portrait hardcover image wrap. With a single column of text I think that'd be a little under 80 pages? So I'm guessing $37.95 per book, +$6.99 for shipping.

14 comments:

  1. your illustrations are amazing so far! i especially love your character sketches for alice. this will turn out great.

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  2. I love the illustrations. I feel like you should use minimal color for this and let the ink speak for itself.

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  3. I like the sketches that you have so far and think that it is coming along very nice.

    I like what you are doing with the lines of type and the varying leading. I would just say try not to over do it.

    looks great

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  4. The Illustrations are wonderful, I do agree that even a minimal amount of color will add a lot. You don't need a lot of color, maybe just add a little to the key points your trying to highlight.

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  5. I love the ink splatters! This looks so great! I would watch the front cover and I don't really know how pen works but if there is a way you could make the swirling vortex behind the title lighter I think the title could stand out more. It is a little distracting with all the intertwining lines...
    The chapter spread is completely awesome!

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  6. Your book is definitely about the illustrations. I can see your vision for the layout because your sketches are very specific & I'm assuming they are a direct representation of your finished illustrations, just not refined. I think your concept is pretty clear, I'm just not sure about the use of color. I think color is one of those things that will either make it or break it... i guess it comes down to personal preference...& whether it is supported by your concept.

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  7. I love the way the text is working on the page. I think that having the crooked lines is really fabulous. This contributes to the book being about the illustrations and I think this will make a good portfolio peice.

    I like the lack of color. The black and white allows me to really explore the way the text works and the illustrations. Fabulous!

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  8. i love your mad illustration skills! it is so much fun to look at the drawings, my eyes just keep going around like crazy. how many illustrations are you going to do all together? im so excited for this :D

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  9. I think your illustrations are so strong, and I love it. They help you get whats going on in the story.
    I think that you need some color, to make them a little bit interesting. I don't think you need to smother them with color though.

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  10. I love what you are doing with your illustrations and they way you are making the type lead off the pages in the chapter spreads... as though it is handwritten. However--I would strongly advise against using the font you have the main body text set in--it looks like it is 'handwritten' but I think it is a very poorly designed font and it is quickly recognizable because so many people use it (kinda like papyrus...).

    What if you used a monospace font... think of what typewriter fonts look like. That way it still makes sense conceptually, so you can apply the funky effects but it will be a typeface that is easier to read.

    If you don't like the way monospace fonts look.. I would look at traditional or humanist fonts. I think they are better suited to your illustrations than what you're using now. Look at Garamond, Bell and Aldus and go from there.

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  11. P.S. I am glad you are hand-lettering the chapter titles... they look awesome!

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  12. I really like your character designs and cant wait to see all the illustrations. It looks like you have a very clear idea what you want and it is looking very good. The only thing that you should be careful with is the complexity of having the whole book with the crooked lines. I think the it fits the theme and it looks fun but just be really careful the it is still readable. Awesome work though!

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  13. You are an amazing artist. Im glad you are using that, it makes it really become yours. There is a lot of emotions shown through your illustrations. Im excited to see them when your done.

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  14. These look incredible! The illustrations are cohesive and interesting and i think they definitely achieve the 'stream of consciousness' mood you were aiming for. I also really like the way you've handled the type paths and falling letters; maybe simplify this for the majority of the body text and have more fun with it on the chapter spreads? I also like danelle's suggestions for typography. She is definitely a good resource for well done type. Keep it up, can't wait to read your finished copy!

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