I wanted to create illustration heavy based work (little books, the calendars, prints etc.) because I want the items to reflect my interest in creating beautiful and weird artwork. It's important to me that publishers/agents see my passion for what I do, and I think I reflect this best by showing the type of illustration that I enjoy creating.
I also want to show that I am always thinking beyond the ordinary book format- at first (top of the thumbnails in pink) I liked the idea of having a concertina book that folded to create the illusion of different layers/heights, but I think it would look to similar to Emily Rand's "in the Garden', which I had pinned on my promotional items board.
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| [a] I liked the idea of a concertina book as they are simple to make and also can be made quite small without being too fiddly to fold/ sew into books. From my research I also liked the idea of putting it in a little envelope, as it keeps it neat and tidy and also I think adds a specialness to it that makes you not want to throw it away or lose it! |
However I also wanted to explore different ideas and so looked through a book I bought for my FMP: 'Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain'.
I liked these ideas as I thought they were visually very interesting and full of themes that I enjoy drawing. To determine the size of the book I bought some money envelopes from wilkos which the books will live inside. The concertina worked out at about 9cm tall and 42cm wide, and then folded into 8 segments.
I made a dummy concertina and drew straight onto it- I started with just thumbnails but was happy with the line work- so I decided to paint straight over it. I painted certain areas and left the rest blank to edit on photoshop. I went for four different omens: an adder on the doorstep, a plague of mice, a bat flying around the house 3 times and the sudden appearance of a white mare.
On photoshop I added text and textures, keeping in mind the style I have in my portfolio- I also thought the bat was a nod to my calendar. I think a lot of my work shows a real interest in illustration and drawing, focusing on colour, character and texture. My animals also link to my FMP, as does the mystical, folky theme.
I like the arrangement of two colour panels with the black and white in between- I also experimented more with arrangement of type in this little book then I have in previous illustrations.
Originally I used the same font for the front cover and called the book 'Bad Omens & Signs of Death', but once in was printed out and in the envelope- it struck me that as a promotional item it looks quite threatening and foreboding, especially if I'm sending it out to people! I decided to change the title to 'Bad Omens' and also hand draw it, as the font made it look almost too formal and again made it look very serious.
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| the two different book titles, before and after |
I think this was an important change and also shows a sense of professionalism, by thinking of what is appropriate and considering how a specific audience might react to my work and then changing it to suit whatever the situation.
For the envelope I decided to print stickers with my details on to solidify the little book as a promotional item. The envelope will feature my name, website and email and the book itself just features the title and my name:
I reflected the supernatural theme of my mini book on the sticker by drawing eyes and stars, and as with the stickers I made for the back of the calendar I used the same font as the one on my business cards. As I don't have a logo and I have lots of different imagery for my promotional items, it's really important for me to have as many cohesive themes amongst my items. Although the illustration style flows across all the promotional items, I have also used the same typography, motifs such as eyes and I think all my themes link together too.
1. RAND, EMILY- 2014
Rand, E. 2014. In the Garden. [Online]. [Accessed 1 Apr 2017]. Available from:
http://emilyrand.com/In-the-Garden
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