Project Description
Black beauty was one of my absolute favorite books growing up, and I always had a well-worn copy on my bookshelf back home. This touching story of a horse’s adventures in 19th century England was banned by South Africa’s apartheid regime at one point simply because it had the words “black” and “beauty” in the title. Horribly unfair laws demanded the racial separation of native Africans and white Europeans living in the continent, regarding the African Americans as second class citizens.
There seems no time like the American present, overrun by pandemic and racism– to redesign and retitle this book as a form of social commentary.
Research
First I read up on Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty, and was shocked to find racism at the root of why it was (at one time or another) placed on the banned book list by several countries… For no reason other than its title.
Next I some deeper research on the BLM Movement and the buried activism narrative within this book. I began to compile a collection of imagery and text as I did this.
Researched the art style I was interested in using (Kara Walker victorian style sillhouettes)
Researched the Victorian Era of the UK, and how it could be connected to the art, my publication, and our current sociopolitical climate.
Tried to get a hold of Kara Walker to see if I could obtain permissions to incorporate some of her work in my design, but failed to reach her. I ultimately decided to create my own illustrations inspired by her methods, using images from recent BLM protests.
As for design research, I created a Pinterest moodboard for different typography art and minimal/modernist book covers that I’ve seen and really admire.
I knew that my color palette would be primarily black and white. I was interested in using some watercolor live-brush techniques in Adobe Fresco I’d heard about during the Adobe MAX conference this year, so I took a crack at it for my cover design.
Concept Development
With my concept becoming a little bit more established through my research, I began to work on how to best represent that concept.
After completing project briefs, it was much easier to start right in on preliminary sketches for composition and narrowing down which typeface pairings seemed to fit in best.
After settling on Futura and Bodoni, it was time to start making layout drafts. We initially began with just the first chapter, and then wrote our prefaces.
Next, we created at least 3 cover drafts (ideally all unique, rather than iterations of one idea). I ended up combining the first and second spreads for my final draft.
Right: Some initial cover drafts
Below: some early grid sketches, when I was trying to work out potential compositions
Refinement
I originally had intended to create very simplistic illustrations of animals or objects mentioned in Anna Sewell’s novel. As I started creating a few animal illustrations, I realized that could be potentially seen as comparing humans to animals, which was not at all the goal.
Instead, I started thinking more about how I could create more of a visual connection between the text and my concept… hence the silhouette protestors.
In order to make sure that my typographical choices were sound, I printed a great many of my draft sheets out, before settling on 11 point Bodoni Book 72, and chapter headings in 15 point Futura (rather than huge 36 point, which I started with).
I am discovering more and more how important iteration is to design, and the more frequently you can get feedback on a draft, the more successful the project will have been by the end.
Illustrations
I ended up finding most of my imagery on Unsplash, and using Adobe Photoshop on Ipad to create my sillhouettes, to be placed between chapters and reinforce my project concept and statement.
In the back matter, I have included a Photography Credit page, just before the colophon.
Lessons Learned
I solidified a lot of what I learned during my summer internship during this process, such as the bells and whistles of master pages, and how to implement paragraph styles, guides and grids as effectively as possible.
Learned a lot more about pairing typefaces, really looking forward to applying this knowledge in all other areas of my designing.
I was able to help classmates learn how to move pages between documents, add page numbers and effectively utilize master pages (with sub sections).
I learned how to correct orphans and widows using GREP styles.
I learned a lot about the parts of a book, front and back matter etiquette.
Utilized grids! I still feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface with grids, but I am beginning to appreciate their value.
If you are preparing anything for print (be it a poster, book or photography) it is ALWAYS beneficial to print it throughout the design process so that you can be sure the type size, weight, etc. work well for the composition.
The more feedback, and the earlier in the process that you recieve that feedback, the better! It is sometimes worth it to rush a draft so that you can get as much constructive criticism as possible.
