Fairytale booklet - Research

J.K. Rowling - The Tales of Beedle the Bard
The book was originally produced in a limited edition of only seven copies, each handwritten and illustrated by J. K. Rowling and one of them was bought by Amazon.com, ( I found the images below from here too ). I think this is a great collectors item and looks really well made and valuable. After looking into value and handmade publications, i cant help but think that the value generated by this book is mostly due to the popularity of J.K. Rowling. I think the limited colour palette creates a more classy look and having a special box to house it, makes it seem more valuable, plus as you can see in the images, it is handled with gloves on! I think having something limited edition like this creates value and interest, so i would like to create a limited edition papercut of the front cover to go with the book in a specially made box.

Fairytale booklet - Research

I found these images of simple fairy tale silhouette illustrations for a childrens book, from this blog here. I think these illustrations are a great, simple, child friendly way to illustrate parts of a story in a way that children can easily and quickly understand as there is no complicated detail for them to take in.

Fairytale booklet - Research

Antlered Kitsune - A contact of mine on Flickr. Creates amazing fairytale-esque paper cut designs and books too! I think the detail of design with simplicity of style create a great look. I like how she brands her images (even for rough designs and mock ups) and I think it gives them a more valuable feel. I would also like to start this method of branding my work, using my mrYen identity brand style and colours. I think it shows that you care about every aspect of your work and it makes all work seem relevant to the final design. I would like to create this simple style of illustration for my booklet, having the bare minimum detail to get the message accross. I think this is appropriate as my book would then appeal to children, as the illustrations are simple to understand, yet look sophisticated enough for the parents buying the book.

(All images can be clicked to take you to the original photos)

Guardian Booklet

I bought the guardian this weekend and there was something that came free with it.......The Guardian's Great Fairy tales supplement. The illustrations in the first booklet are by Laura Barrett and are silhouette style paper cut designs. This changed my mind immediately and instead of creating an illustration for the guardian weekend supplement, i have decided to recreate the fairy tale booklet. From illustrating the stories, right down to laying out the body copy of them and printing it out and binding it.

After i had my tutorial with Joe, he recommended that i look into creating more publications, plus it links with my dissertation topic and my personal interests, so he suggested that i push my briefs more into that direction. Also i have been trying to think for a loooong time now, about what i want to illustrate and i always come back to fairy tales and myths/legends. I would like to develop illustrating these themes and i think this is the perfect brief for this, while also feeding my interest in creating small publications.