TimeLife: The Sea
Book Redesign, iPad
When told I would be redesigning a book from the 1960’s TIME-LIFE series, I decided I wanted to choose a topic that offered a lot of possibilities as far as concept and imagery. I picked The Sea because I’ve always felt a connection with the ocean and find it fascinating that we, as humans know so very little about it. I immediately decided I wanted to do hand-drawn elements as opposed to vectored images in order to have a more organic aesthetic. I used ballpoint pen to create the sketches because I liked that it made the images look as if they were carved out of driftwood. I chose to make gel medium transfers for the remainder of the images because I wanted them to look cloudy, worn and watered down. The photographs were made by my friend’s father while scuba-diving in Egypt. These images were combined with the hand-drawn sketches for visual contrast. Hand-written type was used for chapter headings to further the idea of an object being weathered by the waves over time. The alternating columns represent the currents and tides, while the full-page columns of text embody the ocean’s ominous nature. The sea of text consumes the pull-quotes, which feel trapped between the bodies of text. I chose the typeface Adobe Caslon Pro for my body text because it is classic, distinct and fluid. Bell Gothic was used for the captions because it is unobtrusive and retains its legibility at small point sizes. My color palette was inspired by the coral reefs of warm, tropical waters, which can be seen in many of the images as well. The varying changes in scale throughout the book reflect the other-worldly feeling of being underwater, where you can simultaneously feel colossal and microscopic. Overall the redesign was inspired by both the ocean’s characteristics and by my own experiences with the ocean.
Book Redesign, iPad
When told I would be redesigning a book from the 1960’s TIME-LIFE series, I decided I wanted to choose a topic that offered a lot of possibilities as far as concept and imagery. I picked The Sea because I’ve always felt a connection with the ocean and find it fascinating that we, as humans know so very little about it. I immediately decided I wanted to do hand-drawn elements as opposed to vectored images in order to have a more organic aesthetic. I used ballpoint pen to create the sketches because I liked that it made the images look as if they were carved out of driftwood. I chose to make gel medium transfers for the remainder of the images because I wanted them to look cloudy, worn and watered down. The photographs were made by my friend’s father while scuba-diving in Egypt. These images were combined with the hand-drawn sketches for visual contrast. Hand-written type was used for chapter headings to further the idea of an object being weathered by the waves over time. The alternating columns represent the currents and tides, while the full-page columns of text embody the ocean’s ominous nature. The sea of text consumes the pull-quotes, which feel trapped between the bodies of text. I chose the typeface Adobe Caslon Pro for my body text because it is classic, distinct and fluid. Bell Gothic was used for the captions because it is unobtrusive and retains its legibility at small point sizes. My color palette was inspired by the coral reefs of warm, tropical waters, which can be seen in many of the images as well. The varying changes in scale throughout the book reflect the other-worldly feeling of being underwater, where you can simultaneously feel colossal and microscopic. Overall the redesign was inspired by both the ocean’s characteristics and by my own experiences with the ocean.
