Well, I’ve been thinking through the Lemony Snicket Series of Unfortunate Incidents for ages now.
Each time I think I’ve cracked what it’s about I get another idea and then I have to go back and change the whole series.
Now I’ve got 4 books of the 5 done: A turkish map fold, a tunnel book, a double split concertina and a double concertina.
I’ve really begun to leverage the gorgeous illustrations inside the books now, and this has meant that I’ve had to return to the first one I was inspired to do (the double split) and make it better. And I’ve pretty much abandoned the idea of using the photographs of accidents that I found (they’ll come back in another series).
Also have to say that when I made the decision to use some NEW paper instead of recycling the paper from inside the book it changed my kinesthetic experience of making: using old paper looks great, but new paper FEELS so good. Late last year I happened upon a sale at officeworks where I picked up some 215 gsm card in a similar creamy colour to the paper of the books and it’s just that little more robust than the original paper is (and will last longer opening and shutting than the old paper will, as I learnt when I did the tunnels and carousels using 100 year old books when I was in Chicago last year).
So learning and improving. Eventually I’ll get to the end of the series. Right now it’s a fun and virtually never-ending project!
