Show Setup

 

Thesis Statement (Minor Update)

“...you can mash a lot of orcs and unicorns and intergalactic wars together without actually imagining anything. One of the troubles with our culture is we do not respect and train the imagination. It needs exercise. It needs practice.” ~Ursula K. Le Guin

I have created a tool that will open creative possibilities. Fantasy as a genre offers so much freedom to a creative mind, but it’s too often that things from other fantasy works are recycled and featured in other stories. A major subject of this repetition is fantastical creatures. It feels as if there is a finite list of creatures allowed in a fantasy setting (minotaur, werewolf, vampire, elf, etc.) when in reality the space allowing those toying in the realms of fantasy is infinite. My goal with my thesis is to open people’s minds to these possibilities and get them thinking far outside the box and straying from the bestiaries of Tolkien, Dune, and other widely popular fantasy worlds.

Stickerz

I colored some of the illustrations to make them into stickers.

I ordered these and my 9x6 and giant versions of my book.

I wasn't going to make a narrative, but...

... I made a narrative.

The book is going to be written in the perspective of a creature imagined by a human mind. This creature is trying to find ways to create other imaginative beasts like itself on its own. Here is the draft of the introduction written in their perspective.

I've also been adding characterized language to help describe the options on that long list, which is now being organized as a series of paragraphs and spot illustrations. Here is an example in progress.

More Illustration Sketches (And some finished)

I plan to have all spot illustrations finished by the end of the week so I can move on to creating language and formatting the book. Once I have a few pages I'm going to send them to CCI to make sure it can be printed large.

Flower & Underground Sketches

Sense, Limb, and Sustainability Sketches

Sky & Surface Biome Sketches

Finished Desert & Aquatic

Finished Forest & Grassland

Finished Volcano

Illustration Style Development

These are some style studies that I will be more formally inking once I have all (predetermined) 18 spot illustrations completed. In the mix are included final sketches of 5 of the spot illustrations.

Style Tests and Desert Sketch

Aquatic, Forest, Grassland, and Volcanic Sketches

Plant Sketches

Formatting and Color Sketches

This week I focused on how I want the information to be formatted in the book. I began doing a rough sketch of how it might be presented in a small sketchbook and made a few quick ink paintings to portray color coding that I want to happen for a few of the more information-heavy sections.

Where it's at.

I've gotten the "map" to a place where I feel like it's finally workable. As the project continues I will be adding little bits, but it's never truly supposed to be finished. The premise is for the user to use it as a starting point where they can add their own ideas. It is no longer my main focal point.
The next step is giving each option a proper but brief description. After that I want to begin working on the book and test running the system with different people so see if it is clear and usable.
Below is where the map is at right now and a few quick concepts created from it.

Environment Tree

Form Tree

Mobility Tree

Sense Tree

Sustainability and Communication Trees

Quick Creature Concept 1 (w/ notes)

Quick Creature Concept 2 (w/ notes)

Finding a Direction

I've decided to go forth with the giant book idea. I see it as an interesting physical tool and a challenge for my craftsmanship skill. I think they has the potential to be a memorable, interactive piece that has the potential to echo its theme through its presentation.

So far I have the text block for the final book (with additional folios) and a "dummy" book that I'm going to bind and use to plan the layout of the final book.

Final Book Folios (9)

Cropped "Dummy" Book Folios (7)

Size Comparison

Notes

Stitch I'm thinking of using for the cover. Likely will be bound in faux leather

Format Ideas and TheCreatureResource (also which font were we supposed to use?)

I need to decide on the format for this creation tool. I would like to create two before the thesis show, one digital and one physical. I have begun tooling around in Adobe XD and Wikipedia. Below are the ideas I am working with so far. Suggestions for other formats or alterations to these examples are greatly appreciated.

I have set up a sandbox Wiki page in order to learn how to use the software and to beta test my idea of having this set up as a communal Wikipedia page. Additions by the community to the current list of features would be permitted in order to allow the tool to naturally expand with knowledge outside my reach or ideas I have overlooked.

App Sketch

Wheel Sketch

Book Notes and Wiki Page Info