My plan was to make a photo book of as many of the illustrations as I could. Time was a bit tight and the program that I was recommended developed some random bugs once I had uploaded most of my images which meant that I couldn't zoom in to check as closely as I should. The book is quite good and it is interesting to see the illustrations printed to photo quality at A3 size but the printed version shows some blemishes that I couldn't see before publication and the top of my graphic novel was cut off even though the layout was ok on the draft. (actually I don't think that a glossy photo print is the right presentation for a graphic novel but I needed to see it to know that) I needed a better recommendation. Coincidentally the Weekender E-bulletin had a piece on making books which recommended Blurb. I looked at the program which you can download to Indesign and is much better than the platform that I used, but it will take too long to get a new book printed and I would miss the submission deadline. I considered my options and decided send the less than perfect book but also to upload my tidied up work to Issuu as an Ebook version. It's not as good as a physical book, but I hope that the assessors will understand.
This is the first time that I have sent work to an external publisher in the way and it was a good learning experience. Even if time is tight in the future I will change platforms if the publication isn't 100% visible before I pay for printing. To replicate my failed photo book I kept the same layout for the Issuu publication which isn't the best design for reading online. I think that future publications should be in a format that works both physically and online. The finished online book is here.
Not all the work I am submitting is suitable for inclusion in my photo book. I rebound my artists book "You are Here" and I am sending that. The binding and presentation is better with reworking though I'm still not 100% happy with the spine. I need to practice bookbinding once I have finished my submission.
It was a challenge to work out how to best present my zines for assessment. Initially, excited by the possibilities of bookbinding, I bound them together but they made a rather rough and chunky book which didn't feel right in the hand. The intended unfinished feel of the zines became messy when they were sat so closely together. I unbound them and changed to a zig zag fanfold format. with some nice burgundy card which sets the colours off better that white which I used for the bound book.
The individual zines each have their own pocket and are held in place with elastic which means that they can be removed for reading individually in the style that they should be.
I did print and bind my critical review, learning about the print booklet function of Indesign, and drew a simple illustration for the cover.
The models are a couple of Urbansketchers from the London group who were lifted from photos on the Facebook page and re-appropriated (the lady with the sunglasses was actually looking at a sketchbook)
My sketchbooks are sorted and labelled, have I sent enough? Too many? I do draw every day in one form or another so I fill a lot of sketchbooks in 18 months and I really don't think that the assessment team will have the time to look at all of them so I left out some of the many snatched drawings of people made surreptitiously when I'm on the train or out and about. There are still lots of drawings of my pets and family which aren't very experimental or enlightening but which sometimes appear in my sketchbooks when I'm supposed to be doing something more educational....
Is my work good enough to progress to level 3?
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