I had been drawing with a more serious focus on the craft for four years when I released my own book. Part of what kept me consistently motivated in working on drawing was the idea of making my own art book as I feel that I would really enjoy working as a publication designer/art book creative director. Throughout my journey in art I was exposed to many scams which was often frustrating but also filled me with determination with the hopes of being able to create an independent creative venture that actually had integrity. 

I understood that many artists are sort of jaded or suspicious of opportunities because many artists are aware of exploitation. There is really no reason any artists would just hand over their art to let me try and make a book, so I figured I would have to make my own art book and it would have to be good; and so I took every opportunity I could to do printed media assignments (especially book related ones) and did my best to develop relevant skills. 

Throughout my time at Southern Utah University I learned a lot about bookmaking. It involved a lot of stretching in terms of my skillset, trying to face and figure out Indesign and stop relying on the common comfort zone of Photoshop and Illustrator. I was lucky enough to have a professor who made books as art (not art books [you know, not books that contained art but were supposed to be art themselves]) so in one class I had a project that was to handcraft a hardcover book from scratch which influenced my understanding and design process in book creation.  

For 3 years I carried this idea of my own publishing company and art book. As I felt confident in specific facets of design I would begin developing aspects of my dream. I wanted my logo and name to be connected and referential to me as an artist but also separate. The logo was in part inspired by William Morris and his contributions to the Kelmscott press.

I also began collecting and reviewing art books in order to understand what I loved in art books. A great deal of my inspiration came from the books of the South Korean art crew Superani, and the books designed by Spiridon.    

The book was slowly formed as I learned what was necessary to accomplish my vision. The experience also informed my approach to advice. After showing the first draft of the book to some people I trusted, I received some criticisms that brought me to go back and change around 230 pages of layouts. During this process of review and sharing though, I also received some comments that I should add a traditional colophon at the end of the book. I really had no intention of having anything formatted like an old colophon at the end of the book and was not interested in writing about the details of fonts within the book. 

I knew that to present and market the book I would eventually produce, I would need to have good product photography for promotion. I took some courses outside of my major and was lucky enough to have a professor patient enough to teach me despite my inexperience in photography. 

Once I had edited and refined the book enough I printed a first draft through Mixam printing. I used this Zero Edition to create photographs and videos for marketing materials. I had saved a decent amount of money for the project but I had nowhere near enough to mass produce the book. I had planned to launch a kickstarter for the book that included many stretch goals, one of which being upgrades to the book. I originally wanted the book to wrapped in red synthetic leather or linen and then stamped with metallic black foil, but the foil system requires a custom etched metal plate that increases the starting price and minimum order size. A kickstarter seemed like a good venture as I had a quality product and could garner support from a community interested in art. 

The next step was designing a kickstarter and social media assets. 

In the months leading up to my Kickstarter I discovered so many other creators and projects that I supported. I took inspiration in how to write my own campaign from the many great Kickstarters I found.

Kickstarters require an approval and scheduling process to be completed. Unfortunately my Kickstarter launched with very poor timing and under unideal circumstances. My presence on social media was not enough to pull through and so the Kickstarter failed. It was difficult but I am already working on another art book and do not plan to give up soon. I suppose if you are going to fail any time then the first try is best. You can check out the full flip through of the book below and be sure to keep an eye out for the next book release by Sadhouse Publications.