For a different module in Semester One, we were given a choice of texts to produce a series of five accompanying illustrations for. I chose to illustrate Rudyard Kipling's 'How the Rhinoceros got his Skin'. This semester, we were tasked to work independently to create a book for these illustrations, using the bookbinding techniques we had been taught.
I initially experimented with using layering to make my illustrations pop, but it was a fiddly process, and it didn't have as much impact as expected, so I didn't include it in the final book. I also considered experimenting with pop-up, but this was difficult as the illustrations weren't designed with pop-up in mind.
Back in Semester One, when creating the illustrations, I was inspired by historical illustrator Thomas Crane, and the intricate borders that accompanied his illustrations. I wished to do the same with my book, so I did some experiments. They also had the additional effect of filling up the blank space left when a square illustration is included on a rectangle spread.
I then worked on a cover. I used blues and greens to match the tropical island setting, and including foliage like in the illustrations to frame it. The rhino is the central figure. As the story was a part of a series, I imagined the book would be to, so I added a banner to mark it as part of the 'Just So' book series.
After working out the page layout, I used Adobe InDesign to arrange the text, illustrations, additional graphics, and print order. I was originally going to make a hardbound book like most children's books are for durability, but due to a low page count, I decided to make a pamphlet book instead.
I struggled with my first book attempt, as I was using unwaxed thread to perform the binding, and after I managed to sew it, the book was too thick to cut evenly with my rotary cutter. I started again, this time using waxed thread and cutting the pages to size before hand.
The book isn't made perfectly - the cover and some of the pages have a unexpected white border, my sewing could be neater, and the cover ideally would have been made of a firmer material. Nevertheless, I am very pleased with my book, having never attempted something like this independently.
I like my cover, such as the way the colours pop (even if they printed differently to what I was expecting), and additional graphics created for the book, like the border. I also feel I gained more experience with using InDesign, so I can confidently design more publications with it in the future. However, I do feel as if I could've been more creative with the illustrations, and tried pop-up or some other visual effect to make the book more engaging for children.
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