Making the Book

Title:

I had already decided on titling my work; 'Waldeinsamkeit' as this is the word I am trying to represent my own interpretations of. I wanted a specific style of font to represent this so I compiled a list of possible fonts that I felt might work. I was looking for an almost branch like aesthetics to connotate the forest, so following on from this I was looking for very definitive lines and a neat, professional appearance. The font I chose in the end was Brain Flower which I found on Dafont as this, in my opinion, represents the wilderness of the forest and has an almost indie whimsical feel to it which is exactly the look I was going for.

Cover: 

I wanted a simple, neat cover as it's the first thing someone will see when they look at my work, therefore I chose to use one image as a wraparound as this will keep the cover consistent. These were the two main images I considered:



I really like this one as it has a very whimsical, childhood feel to it and instantly draws the reader's eye however I have already included a similar version inside the book so I wanted a new image for the cover.

I chose the bottom image in the end as I really like the contrasting simplicity and chaos within it. It represents my work well as it's a nice example of how illustration and photography can interact with each other. I like the colours in it as they are very simplistic and neutral but I feel it's very eye catching too and will make the viewer want to pick it up and look at it closer.

Little Maquettes:

I wanted to experiment with the images in conjunction with each other and the different styles of books. One way of doing this I decided was to create a re-presentation of a mini book I used to make as a child using one sided A4 folded in a way without needing binding. Using Indesign as a template I played around with different imagery next to each other. I really like these mini books as they have a nostalgic feeling when making them and are very rough and ready, however, despite liking the size of the books, I want to focus on producing a more professionally finished product. 

Final Images: 

Final Cover

I like the simplicity of these lines and felt it
 would be suitable next to the inside cover 

Interesting element of the forest

Having decided this I then sat about working out the pagination using a mockup of my book I had made using folded paper so I could remove pages and rearrange them if I changed my mind. I also drew up a template in Photoshop using the rulers so that all my images would be in the same position and be the same size and even, when folded.

Mockup paper template

Photoshop Template

Using this I dragged all the images I wanted into Photoshop and organized them into folders, layering each half via cut so that I could mix and match them during the printing process: 

Printing: 

I was able to borrow my flatmate's printer luckily and had to work out what side the printer printed on as I was manually printing on both sides. I chose to print the cover on a semi gloss canvas card to differentiate from the inside pages and to create a professional finish. Inside I used some plain matte white card so overall the book is sturdy and well finished. 

Prints on the bottom

Binding: 

I've decided to saddle stitch the book together so I've measured a series of holes made using the compass and decided on black thread as this is neat and tidy.