Motel
Book Design
This project begins by crafting a narrative through carefully selected images, each contributing to a compelling storyline. The goal is to transform this narrative into a captivating physical book, where visuals and text harmoniously come together to create an immersive reading experience.
How it started
This project required me to first gather images that could be connected to one another. After finding those images, I was to place the images in order while writing a story that would include them all. After writing a story, I then designed a physical book to match the aesthetic and storyline that I had previously created. My story is entitled Motel and focuses on a small group of childhood friends that decide to take a road trip together. Along the way, the friends find a cute motel off the highway and stop to rest for the night before continuing their journey. The next day the friends find themselves in a situation that they weren’t prepared for. I had a great time coming up with this story and being able to express myself through my writing as well as creatively with the design itself.
Colors
One of the first images that I found was an old motel sign that featured each letter of the word “motel” inside of a circle that was either blue or pink. The pink also went with the setting of Arizona and the beautiful rock landscapes that are scattered throughout the state. The shade of yellow was influenced by not only the sun, but also the ground of the dry desert surrounding those rocks. I think that the colors are also reminiscent of the bright fun colors that these types of motels were known for using.
Typography
For the typography, I wanted my typefaces to have a sleek, modern look that seemed to match the “motel” sign that I had previously mentioned. Something, bold, simple and straightforward was what I wanted for my headings, while I went for something that included some fun curves and a unique look to it to contrast the heading typeface.
Digital Designs
The digital design combines my original storyline with the images that I had chosen into my own book design. At this point I had to ensure that my cover, and all the pages, were ready to be sent off to be printed. This was my last chance to look over everything to make sure that everything was perfect, and everything seemed to be how I wanted it. I used the printing company Blurb, and utilized their extension that connects directly with the website to upload your files in a quick convenient way.
Final Design
Once the files were sent to the printing company it took about a week to receive the finished product, which I was very proud of. When I had received my printed copy I was able to enjoy my design in a physical way just as I had imagined it. It’s an amazing feeling getting to see your work in a real world setting so having it in hand is a very exciting moment.
