One of the most challenging and rewarding parts of this project was of the typesetting. Typesetting such a large body of text was both challenging and rewarding. I focused on maintaining readability while also thinking carefully about pacing, spacing, and hierarchy across the book. This project pushed me to be attentive to small typographic decisions and to consider how readers move through long stretches of text within a compact format.
I really enjoyed setting up paragraph and character styles to give each section of the book its own unique look. Creating this system helped me keep things consistent while still letting each section stand out. It was awesome to see how these styles backed up the text’s structure and made the layout process smoother and more purposeful.
Reading each piece carefully to create strong visual imagery of key points throughout the storyline and sequencing them accordingly, also helped to establish a cohesive visual aesthetic throughout the chapbook.
The cover design grew out of this same exploratory process. I used a mixed digital media approach to create a layered, painted effect that added depth and texture to the surface of the book. I paired a bright modern bold type to stand out to the viewer in contrast to the nostalgic feel of the vintage classic oil painting visual. The image itself is composed of several images layered on top each other, while also altering the illustration style of the crow to have a thick oil impasto effect to match its background. The crow really looks like it is jumping out at you, which ties in through the importance of the crows central theme throughout the storyline of this book.
Overall, this project strengthened my interest in editorial design and layout. It allowed me to combine image-making, typography, and layout into a single cohesive object, and it reinforced how much I enjoy working with clients and bringing their work to life.