Narrative Illustration: April 2014

Wednesday, 30 April 2014

Book Size & Binding

In the creation of a book of any kind, size must be taken into consideration. Books can be any shape or size, from square, to traditional rectangle shapes.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/Comparison_book_sizes.svg/512px-Comparison_book_sizes.svg.png < image reference at this link.

Regardless of shape and size, all books require a 'bleed' area, to allow for any errors.

http://www.ubuildabook.com/images/layoutinstr/page7.jpg < image reference at this link.

Children's books in particular appear to be more varied in style and size than adult books, this can be seen in the images below.

http://www.teaching-tiny-tots.com/image-files/fish-book.jpg

Taking the Nobrow brief into consideration now, Nobrow use a common size of 17x23 comics, with around 24 pages.

http://www.nobrow.net/category/products?producttag=17x23-series < image reference at this link.

Because of this, my book will also consist of a 17x23 size, to reflect nobrow's style. The below photos highligh an example of a book of this size.

The New Ghost, a book by Robert Hunter.

Section of existing Nobrow book highlighting 17x23cm size.

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Update: I have emailed Nobrow asking about the possibility of them supplying me with a professional template, I will post a screenshot of my email below.

Unfortunately I never received a reply.

My draft book (left), reflects a Nobrow book that is also in the 17x23cm format. This is proof that I have accomplished my specified book size, as they are exactly the same dimensions.

My first final arranged sheet, highlighting page #1. This piece features a professional bleed.

Thomas.

Monday, 28 April 2014

The London exhibition is set for a July showcase, and the selection of work will take place at uni on the 30th of april.

I have created a self portrait as part of the exhibition criteria, and here is my piece below. It will be presented in a black and white tone.

I have also been creating work in a few sketchbooks, in order to offer a nice selection of work, that could possibly be used for the gallery. I have taken on the theme of pen rodents for the majority of my possible submissions, as I enjoy drawing them, and the style I use sums me up as an illustrator.

The first 3 images below were sketched into an a5 Windsor & Newton book, and the image after these were sketched into an a4 book.

The image directly above, has been chosen by myself for submission, and will hopefully be exhibited at the Conningsby gallery in London, in June/July.

Thomas.

Page #9

Page #9 with 5mm bleed.

Thomas.

Saturday, 26 April 2014

epubli

http://www.epubli.co.uk/book/book-printing < image reference at this link.

Epubli is a book printing company who print books, via online submissions.

'epubli' is a company formed in 2008, that is situated in Berlin-Kreuzberg.

They offer printing, as well as eBook publishing via major retailers such as Apple, Amazon, Google.

The company claims "financial clarity", as well as "the highest print quality/ professional customer service and support". The company is a part of Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, which is a company that has activities in more than 80 different countries.

http://www.epubli.co.uk/about-us < image reference at this link.

I put my book specifications through the online quote, and received this price. The size isnt my specified 17x23cm style, however I will contact them to see if they do a requested size, and then update when I receive a reply.

http://www.epubli.co.uk/projects/costs < image reference at this link.

Thomas.

Friday, 25 April 2014

Typography

Fonts come in a large range of different shapes, sizes, and styles, and I thought I would do some research on font types, in order to aid in development of my book.

Don't can have a massive effect on a story. Using a generic font such as times new roman, may make the story appear to be serious, whether it is meant to or not.

http://juanrojodesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/fonts-1.jpg < image reference at this link.

http://www.webopedia.com/FIG/FONT.gif < image reference at this link.

In my first book draft copy, I used a stock font that can be found on Photoshop. It was called ... And I decided to use this font for the draft, as I felt it connected well with the story, and illustrations.

I did not want to go with a font such as times new roman, this font appears far too bold, and basic for my story.

The above image contains text in my chosen font style.

Thomas.

Wednesday, 9 April 2014

My Hamster Kiwi

The reference that I have been using for my book, was my hamster, who sadly died last week. I have many photos and videos, and this will aid me in the completion of my book, which will now be kindly dedicated toward her.

Thomas.