DESIGNING A PICTURE BOOK
As a part of the CalArts Graphic Design Specialization, I got an opportunity to design an 8-page image-based book. I found the process of creating the images from scratch super fun! Here, I walk you through the entire process; hope you enjoy!
Choosing a topic - Why the African Elephant?
I decided to go through a visual encyclopedia to find a topic for this assignment and as I flipped through the pages, I was drawn to the African elephant in the book. Its eyes, wrinkles and majestic body frame gave the aura of ancient wisdom, unshakeable strength, warmth and humility that comes with age.
Mood Board
I explored images with an intention of capturing the elephant in different angles and moods, performing daily actions and gathered closeups to bird eye views. Through reading articles and learning about the documentary 'Gods in Shackles', I became aware of the dangers and miseries faced by elephants which I never knew before. I filtered the saved images based on feelings, habits and mediums that were covered, while also considering the colours and layout of the mood board.
(Disclaimer: Please note that all images used in this mood board belong to their respective owners, and no copyright infringement is intended.)
Image Making
I first collected all the materials that I thought would be fun to experiment with to form an image. I started with the simplest means – pencil, and sketched an elephant in different views to study its form. I did this using simple lines, to understand what’s the least that can be identified as an elephant. This gave result to my 1st image where I’ve shaded only the ear because it’s a unique feature attributable only to the elephant.
My further images were also developed on the basis of the first few sketches, mainly the front view. While implementing one idea, it often led to another one. For e.g. When I was in the kitchen using utensils to form an image, I added coriander leaves to form trees, and that led me to use vegetables to form another image.
Reflections
I like the image of freehand pen lines the most, as it was really simple and flexible in terms of the process and I also like the result. I’m not disappointed with any of the images but I can see a lot of improvements that can be done. For e.g. in the 5th image, the round coconut shells fail to signify elephant ears; other options like cabbage leaves, grains, forks, newspaper cutouts, colourful sand, digital art, etc. can be used to form the shape.
Range of Representation
Here, I explored different techniques to show the most real to the most abstracted representation of an elephant:
Photograph > Edited Image > Fingerprint Painting > Newspaper Collage > Left-handed continuous line drawing > Vector illustration using shapes > Type
Composing Simple Spreads
On a rough page, I explored different placements of elephants, differing in size, position and function in a series of thumbnail sketches. My final compositions weren't the same as these sketches, but they were a good starting point for coming up with more ideas while actually placing elephants digitally. What I learnt was not to spend too much time and stay attached to one idea, accept that it is not working, and move on.
Composing a Complex Narrative
'My Tale' is an image-based book, narrating the story of an African Elephant.
The front cover shows "my" sitting on a tail, communicating the title of the book with a pun. Two elephants stand in the far distance, hinting who this tail/tale is all about. (This composition makes use of Scale and Space to create visual hierarchy.)
As you open the book, you will be greeted by a dead elephant which represents the tens of thousands of African elephants killed every year for their ivory tusks. (This composition creates contrast with Scale. The tusks fly away from the elephant and direct the viewer to turn the page.)
The narrative is continued with the tusks flying in the same direction, but now they are chasing the elephants. Why?
The tusks here represent weapons. Due to overhunting, elephants are now being born without tusks. (Not a Joke, read about it here: https://www.discovery.com/nature/tuskless-elephants-evolved-to-escape-poachers)
The big image of the elephant interacting with the gutter, shows helplessness (mild eyes) and anger (chili tusk).
In the bottom right corner, a tuskless baby elephant grabbing and pulling the tail of a fellow elephant, represents pulling the elephant from the jaws of death (as nature has done by evolution of tuskless elephants).
Surprise! The hand-drawn baby elephant is a now a newspaper collage elephant, being pulled by humans into circuses.
In the upper right corner, the elephants tied on ropes mimic carcasses hung in butcher shops. This doesn’t literally mean elephant meat, but the elephants being turned into nothing but carcasses, either by poaching for ivory or by harassing them mentally for human entertainment in circuses or “friendly” animal sanctuaries.
But, there’s good news! Look in the bottom right corner, one lucky baby elephant escaped from this chaos…
…to be greeted by a wonderful world. Where will the elephant go – on the concrete road to development or back into the book of tusk weapons and butcher shop simulations?
