Alice's Adventures in Wonderland book design mock-up by Kristina Gorobets.
Role: Graphic Designer, Art Director, Illustrator, Bookbinder
Team: Solo project
Context: A print design assignment for PUB 131: Publishing Design Technologies course at Simon Fraser University
Tools: Adobe InDesign, Procreate, printer, semi-gloss paper, card stock, thread and needle
Process
For this publishing design assignment, we were challenged to fully design, typeset, print and hand-bind a copy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. We were provided with a text file only.
I decided that my target audience would be people ages 18-30 that are familiar with the story and like collecting beautiful editions of their favorite titles. I based my design decisions on this criteria, designing for the younger bracket of adults with a taste for beautiful things.
The Cover
The process of designing the front cover was messy, as shown in the video. I used Procreate to explore different themes and symbols from the book, and at the end settled on a playful lettering design that features the iconic white roses dripping red, card suits, a mushroom, and a crown. The back cover illustration is another painted white rose, this time more detailed, which echoes the front cover design.
I also wrote and typeset the short description of the book, as well as the spine title and author name; added a decorative element to visually balance the spine design, as I could not use an existing publishing house logo; and added the bar code on the back.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland full cover design with a spot illustration of a rose and the front cover lettering by Kristina Gorobets.
The Inner Layout
For the layout of chapter openers, I used the beautiful Baskerville Display PT serif typeface, balanced with a simple Akzidenz-Grotesk Light sans-serif chapter number and a decorative chapter element. Each chapter also opens with a drop cap, which creates an overall elegant, old-fashioned look. The body of the book is set in Adobe Caslon Pro 9/12, with emphasis illustrated through the use of italics and a color variation (which I have since reconsidered).
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland double-page chapter opener spread design with a full-bleed illustration of a key by Kristina Gorobets.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is a text that presents a few creative challenges. Not only are there entire passages that call for emphasis, there are also quite a few poems, some of which are formatted into shapes like a mouse tail. The below spread shows a poem alongside regular text, as well as the custom symbol that signifies the passing of time. The folio design is simple and unobtrusive, with author name and book title at the top center of two pages, and page numbers in the bottom center of each page.
I thoroughly examined the body text for rivers, orphans and widows, and I used hyphenation and justification settings to ensure every page was readable and beautifully type set. I created paragraph and character styles for regular body text, special text, folio elements, chapter headers, and chapter numbers. I used 0.5 inch margins on the outside, 0.8125 inch margins on the inside - to allow extra room for the gutter, and 0.75 inch margins on top and bottom. This margin room allowed for comfortable reading experience and provided a certain sense of luxury.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland double-page regular spread design by Kristina Gorobets.
In addition to typesetting the contents of the book, I created three inner illustrations to supplement three chapter openers. These illustrations were created using Procreate and were inspired by the themes, objects, or people featured in their chapters.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland double-page chapter opener spread design with a full-bleed illustration of Queen of Hearts by Kristina Gorobets.
The Printing and Binding Process
This was the first time I had the opportunity to print and bind a book, so the process was far from smooth. I had to order signatures from a printer, but unfortunately, they came out misaligned on the different sides, and I'd noticed too late to have a chance for reprint. I printed the signatures on semi-gloss paper that was thicker than regular book paper, but since it was for a very short book, it worked out well. After I printed the signatures, I cut them individually with a utility knife, aligned them into signatures, and bound them together with a regular thread and needle.
After creating the text block, I printed the cover on white semi-gloss paper, allowing plenty of room for folding over. I thoroughly measured the dimensions of the text block, allowing extra room for hinges, and glued the cardboard pieces for the hardcover onto the paper cover. I then carefully folded and glued the corners in, and proceeded to measure out the end papers.
Lastly, I glued on the front and the back end papers onto the hardcover and the text block. The back end paper turned out perfectly, while the front one needed a bit more room and came undone at the bottom, where it was attached to the hardcover.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland inside full-bleed illustration of a mushroom by Kristina Gorobets.
The Result
Overall, the result was good for a first-time book binding project, and I learned a lot from it. I had a chance to work with developing every part of a printed book, from front and back matter, to folio design, to layout and typesetting, to cover design. I would be more attentive next time I work on a project like this. I learned how important it is to do test prints, allow room for margins, gutter, and fold over elements, and the proper InDesign document setup and organization for working with a manuscript.