Age of Worry: Publication Design
Duration: 4 months
Opportunity: Revitalize classic book, A Journal of The Plague Year with the current events and connections of the 2020 world pandemic.
Programs Used: Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe XD
*Final book printed through Blurb Publishing
My Role: Researcher, editor, book designer, illustrator, and cover designer.
Solution: Compliment events from the 1665 London plague with news clipping from the 2020 pandemic. For example, for chapter 2 “Travel Ban” I paired a headline about the Trump issued travel ban from NBC News with a section of the original text discussing the travel restrictions the author is encountering. This section was accompanied by an illustration of a suitcase trapped within a box, subtly indicating a travel obstacle. The combination of illustration, text, and headline provides a smooth transition from present to past at the start of each chapter and encourages readers to reflect upon the similarities and differences between the two events. For my typeface I chose Garamond Pro as a fresh take on an old style type that was used during the time period that the original text took place in.
The start of each chapter begins with an abstract illustration that provides foreshadowing of events to come.
Research: I began by taking notes of important moments in both the text and news, looking for comparisons and opportunities for cross-over. To gain more understanding of the text I was working with, I read the entirety of A Journal of The Plague Year by Daniel Defoe and took detailed notes. After analyzing my notes, I read through various reputable news sources (both newspapers and online publications) and collected news articles of importance that were later used at the start of each chapter.
Challenges: The original text is a single stream of consciousness narrated with few transitions and no formal chapters. It was very difficult to narrow down the text to excerpts that would be the most relevant to the 2020 pandemic. After reviewing my notes and small mountain of news clippings I decided upon 9 final sections. Designing within the parameters provided by my publisher and adjusting to the correct settings also took some practice, but was a rewarding experience.
Learning: This project allowed me to extensively improve my knowledge in the publication process. I learned to create and use master pages in Adobe InDesign, and format my book within a publisher's parameters for final publication.
