Overview
For my college degree project at Everett
Community College, I published a book through Amazon's CreateSpace.
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Although I did not expect for it to gain a lot of traction in regards to interest or sales, I still wanted it to be useful for any potential readers.
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There are three main sections:
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A summary of the "(graphic) design process"
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A step-by-step on how I create digital illustrations in Photoshop
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A small gallery of my original artwork
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Role
Author & Illustrator
Deliverables
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Digital & physical copy of book
Timeline
10 Weeks
Inquiry
Objective & Overview:
Publish and sell a book via online through Amazon's CreateSpace. Its content details my personal approach over the design process and how I use it to create my digital illustrations.
Target Audience
My online followers on social media, friends, and anyone interested in improving their digital drawing techniques. Since the overall tone of the book is more lighthearted and fun, it may most likely appeal to a demographic of young adults or younger.
General outline of plan
Ideation
Thumbnail sketches of the overall layout of the images and text for each of the book's three major sections.
I made several sketches to determine the look of the cover, as well as the little avatar of my head.
Typefaces & Color Palette
Since it was my own personal book, I chose typefaces based on my personal preferences. I preferred sans-serif fonts with rounder shapes for a "friendlier" and feminine feel.
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Since there were also 3 major sections, I opted for a CMYK color palette as I personally found them appealing. It also would make it stand out when marking the sides of the pages of each respective section, resulting in easier navigation.
Prototype
Prototype in InDesign of the book's three major sections.
Evaluation
Notes taken while consulting my teacher of issues and possible changes needed regarding the project.
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Notable changes were editing the tone of my writing, as well as minor changes of the overall visual look such as color and the typography.
Product & Insights
All in all, this was a very formative experience for me. I had not previously published a book or worked with InDesign so extensively before — much of what I had to do was through self teaching, with some pointers from my teacher here and there. I'm proud to have been able to make a tangible product and I'd definitely be open to making and publishing another book again sometime in the future.
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