Into the Forest came about inspired by several of my key interests and aims; my love of the outdoors and all that can be enjoyed in it, the desire to create a book that crossed over with Fine Art, in that it could be enjoyed closed as well as read, to create both a visual and physical journey for the reader, and of course to embrace colour texture and pattern.

 

Driven by my dissertation I was also especially interested in trying to create something 'new' considering  new directions and opportunities for children's books within the market. Not an easy task as almost everything has been done before, but perhaps to find a new way of reinventing an old process, concept and idea. Inspired by authors and book artists such as Bruno Munari, Yusuke Oono, Johan Hybschmann,  Helene Druvert, Herve Tullet and Alexander Korzer-Robinson I explored notions of 'new' non-fiction, interactivity, non-linearity, books as desirable objects, changing forms and sculpture.

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It certainly was a challenge in the early stages to ensure the cutouts worked effectively for spreads on the right and the reverse, and then to adopt and use a colour palette that was limited but with enough scope to ensure a gradual change in tone, so that when closed there was the added visual illusion of depth. At the point of hand in, the books was still very much in its developmental stage, as seen below. I had yet to even begin to consider the nature and relationship of text to image within the book, but I was fortunate for it to catch the eye of a publisher at the MA show in London and so continued the developmental journey with them.

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The project was shortlisted for The World Illustration Awards 2018, under Children's Books, New Talent and exhibited at Somerset house in June and has been included in the annual catalogue.

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