STAN HYWET GARDEN BOOK
ILLUSTRATED BOOK - UNFINISHED*
Stan Hywet Halls & Gardens is a historic estate museum in Akron, Ohio containing ten restored historic gardens. The museum was a favorite location of mine growing up, so I decided to use it as the topic for a semester-long school project. The project was open-ended and focused on our process rather than the result.
The project I am developing centers around designing a booklet for Stan Hywet with illustrations, descriptions, and a map overview of the gardens. The goal of the booklet is to inform visitors about each garden with visuals and text. I intend to provide visitors with adequate information about each garden so that they could decide which ones to visit and in what order.
*Currently, I only have five illustrations completed. I am presently completing the final five and developing the layout and covers of the booklet.
TYPE: Personal, School
SKILLS: Illustration, Typography, Book Design, Photography
TOOLS: Illustrator, InDesign
ABOVE: Five out of the ten illustrations that have been completed.
ABOVE: A booklet mockup displaying the first two garden illustrations. In the final booklet, there will be a page on the left with a description of the garden, but the two illustrations are pictured together for now.
ABOVE: The next two garden illustrations.
ABOVE: The fifth, completed illustration shown as the cover of the booklet. In the future, I will design booklet covers.
DESIGN PROCESS: Ideation > Visual Research > Iterations > Design & Build > Revisions > Final Design
I. IDEATION: The project topic was up to my discretion, so I began by "brain dumping" my interests and passions. Most of the ideas in the list related to the topic of nature/environment. I used this as the starting point for a mind map (shown below).
I knew that I wanted to do a graphic design project related to one of the ideas in my mind map, so I came up with project applications for each one to help me decide.
I chose Stan Hywet because it was the most personal to me, and I was able to identify a problem that I could solve. After visiting the museum and the website, I saw that there were not many images of the gardens on brochures or the webpage that visitors could use to discern which ones to visit. The solution I came up with was to design a booklet with illustrations, a map, and descriptions of the gardens.
II. VISUAL RESEARCH: Once I had my project topic and deliverable idea, I began to do research. This research included looking at existing illustrated booklets and maps, illustration styles, and Stan Hywet's branding.
I also planned a visit to the historic estate, where I used my iPhone to take photographs of each garden. These photos became my reference images for the illustrations.
III. ITERATIONS: Next, I used the photographs I took to develop my illustrations in Illustrator. The illustrative style I used has a heavy focus on shape, value, and color. The final images are accurate to the gardens and can be used to inform visitors.
IV. DESIGN & BUILD, REVISIONS, & FINAL DESIGN: This project is currently in progress. I plan on finishing five more illustrations. I will then create the booklet layout, complete with description pages, a map, and front and back covers.