This project is inspired by the Penguin Drop Cap Series, designed one of the illustrators and designers I look up to, Jessica Hische. The series itself is inspired about by Hische's Daily Drop Cap project. It features 26 Penguin classics with book covers that has a letter on each cover, from A to Z. Each letter is intricately and thoughtfully designed based on the book's underlying plot or theme.
For this project, I experimented with designing a book cover with a letter on it as well. Like in the Penguin Series, the letter represents the initial of the author's surname.
The book I chose is The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert, which I have recently read this year. The story follows the life of Alma Whittaker in the 1900s, who grows up to be a talented botanist, who spends most of her life studying the complex world of plants and mosses. This masterful work of historical fiction is filled with rich details about botany, evolution, and 20th century events.
Based on the theme of botany, I made leaves and flowers form into the letter G. It is quite a simple and minimal design, really, since I'm still in the process of honing my skills in Adobe Illustrator. Therefore it is my greatest hope that this will be the start of more complex and challenging projects in the future.
This is also a project assignment I have done after finishing a class in Skillshare taught by Jessica Hische herself, entitled Lettering for Designers, One Drop Cap Letterform at a Time.
