A Few Contextual References

In an effort to search for more books like the one I would like to produce, I visited a Waterstones store. These were all found in the Graphic Novel & Teen Fiction section. Although it doesn't make a huge difference, I am aiming my work at a slightly older audience.

 

 

 

I primarily picked up these titles because I liked the cover illustrations. They were a mixture of graphic novels and written novels, so didn't really fit the layout references I was looking for. However, I thought the colour palettes were pretty and I liked how the characters were drawn. I plan for my illustrations to be full colour, and after looking through some physical illustrated books, I know that this would impact things like the paper it is printed on. Single colours (such as black comics) could be printed on the same paper as the writing. However if I were to do a mixture of full colour illustrations and pages of text, I may have to consider how feesible this actually is.

 

 

I really liked the sketchy visual language in "Medusa". It looked different than anything else on the shelf and reflected the nature of the story. This book had quite simple layouts - the text on one page and a full colour illustration next to it. This would be a simple but effective way to lay out my story.

 

 

I've always been a fan of the Neil Gaiman story 'Coraline' and thought this edition, illustrated by Chris Riddell was lovely. The illustrations were suitably creepy and were printed with a single colour - utilising mark making/texutes to create the different values. There wasn't an illustration for every page, but rather scattered throughout the story, illuminating crucial scenes/moments. By using one colour for my illustrations, I would be making it easier to produce this. Perhaps I can explore "editions" of the book later on?

The primary reason for this trip was market research. Although I think my work could exist amongst these titles just fine, I might be better exploring independent bookshops or comic shops that have a wider range of graphic/illustrated novels.