Personal Projects: Book Design

Book Design

In a previous post I talked about personal projects and why they are important. I just started a new personal project that I have found extremely relaxing and fun.

I am a book junkie, I love reading. I love books of all different genres and topics, when I find a good book I can't put it down. When I was brainstorming different personal project ideas it seemed obvious that books should fall on the list somewhere. While trying to evolve this idea to design something including books the first thought was of course the cover and the layout on the inside, but I quickly felt skeptical about this idea because of the amount of time it would take to read the book and the amount of time that it would take for me to design the entire thing.

After coming up with ideas and quickly dismissing them for about an hour I finally landed on my final project objective.

Objective

To relax and have fun while designing and developing book cover designs, while improving my illustration skills.

Once I had a good objective to focus on I had to decide what I was going to design and illustrate to achieve my goals. I decided to read a book, new or old, and while reading I would sketch. Throughout the time reading the book I would develop a set of illustrations that relate to the book in some way, characters, scenes, buildings, signs, etc. And when I finished the book I would then design and develop the book cover and layout.

With this plan I can do something creative throughout the time I am reading the book, I have a big project at the end of each book, and this plan would improve my illustration skills, create more portfolio work, and would be a ton of fun.

I just started this project last week and I am already loving it!

What are some of your favorite personal projects?