1 In developing the thesis for my project, I was inspired by Mark Valli’s words about the future of bookselling: Our only chance of staying in business as booksellers and book publishers is to provide not just information, but meaning, extra meaning, striving to turn every book into a special and unique event, a landmark, a decisive statement of intent, the materialization of an idea, or a set of ideas, or a feeling. In the book business today, focus should be on quality, not on quantity. — elephant, Issue 7, “Rendezvous With The Void.”
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In collaboration with my client, Jesus Ambriz, I will be designing and producing a printed book of his novel, My Unborn Daughter: A Discourse on the Brevity of Awakening. The novel oversees the development of a young couple, Richard Philbrick and Kathya Rosenberg, and can be best described as a philosophical romance. Trying to create a new way in which love is portrayed, My Unborn Daughter is a novel with abounding experiences and questions. It follows Richard’s coming-of-age story, using thoughtful narrative that varies between first to third person, internal musings, letters, dreams, and other voice changes. From a graphic perspective, I see the potential to visualize the novel with innovative imagery and typography, in what the literary world has dubbed as “hybrid novel.” In undertaking a project of this kind, I will explore the challenges and limitations of working with a literary work of great lenght to produce a valuable piece of print communication design, which will also strive to redefine what a hybrid novel is. My goal is to create a deeper understanding and a richer experience in the reading of fiction novels, enhancing new methods of innovation in the print medium and re-imagining its potential. Through the aesthetic and conceptual design of this novel, I intend to create an open dialogue and encourage further interest in treasuring the printed book as a medium of its own interactivity, in which the public will value its significance in our increasingly digital world.