Sunday, April 29, 2012

Review - due May 6th!

Happy weekend everyone! I am very close to ordering the first proof copy from Lulu, I just need a little help from all the artists before I do so.

I have uploaded a very low-res version of the book to Google Docs here. This is not the entire book, it only contains the artwork and artist information. What I need from everyone is another set of eyes to look over your information. The artwork is first, separated into different categories such as sweet, gothic, etc.  You will find the artist information starting on page 99, it is alphabetized by first name.

Please check for:
spelling accuracy (your name/email/website/etc)
page #'s match your artwork

If there is anything wrong with your information/artwork let me know in the comments section below or email me directly.


The deadline for this is May 6th!

I am ordering the 1st proof copy from Lulu on May 7th! I realize this doesn't give people much time but I want to get it ordered ASAP in case I have to purchase a 2nd copy because of unexpected errors.

Here is the link once again. Please let me know if you have trouble viewing it, this file is small enough I should be able to email it out as well, if you prefer. (it's about 12mb)
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(I just realized as I was uploading this, it's the first time everyone will be able to see each other's illustrations! I've been looking at them for so long now it didn't click in my head-please enjoy, there is some amazing work in here!)

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

New Cover Design

Thank you all for your input, with the help of a few other artists, please take a look at the revised art book cover:


(again, ignore the black bar around the edges, that's something Blogger does) I really hope people will be happier with this!

Friday, April 20, 2012

Cover Edits

Thank you guys for your honest critique on the front cover - it's never fun to get a bunch of negative reactions first thing but I'd much rather hear it before the book goes to print. I'll be keeping the same basic layout but am reworking it this weekend with another artist's help and am taking in everyone's feedback.

Hopefully by Monday or Tuesday next week I'll have something to show everyone!

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Checklist

Wondering what step the book is at? I'll be updating this post along the way with my progress, so please check back here at any point to see where I'm at. My goal is to have the entire book finished by summer International Lolita Day, which is June 2nd. 


COMPLETED:
create blog & advertise
call to artists
all artwork submitted
post cover
receive cover feedback & revise
assemble all interior pages
edit back blurb & interior text
post low-res pdf so each artist can check bio information for accuracy
make any necessary edits
upload book to Lulu
order proof copy from Lulu
review proof copy
review final (2nd) proof copy


CURRENTLY IN PROGRESS:
post announcement on where to purchase finished book
spread the word! 

UPCOMING:
send out thank-you cards to artists
have party & celebrate, yaaaayyy!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Front Cover

I am so excited to be able to show everyone the front cover for LOLITA: the artwork!


(click to enlarge)

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section, I'd love to hear what people think! (it will not have that black bar around the edges that the preview shows, that's just something blogspot does)

I AM open to suggestions as far as minor edits go, but I will NOT be doing another cover design from scratch. I am trying extremely hard to stick to the deadline. (Summer International Lolita Day 6/02)

The cover artwork is by PinkGunDollhouse (www.pinkgundollhouse.net), Ewa Z. (www.antygea.net and Zen Thing, (www.thezenthing.blogspot.com) from top to bottom. These 3 pieces worked well behind the font and I thought they personified the different styles (sweet, gothic, classic) quite well. If any of you would prefer your art to NOT be used for the cover, please let me know and I can replace it with someone else's.

Hope you guys like it!

(EDIT: I didn't see this at all while designing, but a couple people have pointed out the cropped versions of the images can look rather sexual if you don't know what lolita is. This is the exact thing I want to avoid, so I'll be moving the illustrations around to focus more on their faces, less on legs).

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Illustration

The best part of doing this book project is being able to see everyone's illustrations as they're submitted. Since I get to take a peek at your guys' work before anyone else, I figured it was only fair for  me to post my own!


I call her "Lolita Mori Elf Moose Girl." (it's a working title, lol...) The lines are done with copic multiliner pens and colors are with Tria and Copic markers. If anyone is interested, you can check out the pencil and ink steps over on my art blog. Yes, a little shameless self-promotion thrown in here  :)

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Next Step

Thank you to everyone who has sent in their artwork!

I still have not heard from the majority of the people on the list in the previous post - if you have not contacted me by now I cannot garauntee your illustrations will make it into the book.

I wanted to let everybody know what the next step will be for me, as a contributor and project coordinator. Currently I am finishing up the cover design, which I will post in the coming weeks so everyone has a chance to check it out. Then I will be compiling all the artwork I've received into Adobe InDesign where the book will be assembled. This entails creating the intro, cover page, copyright info, artist bibliography with everyone's name and contact information, and - last but not least - the artwork pages.

I seriously underestimated how long this would take in the last book project I did ("Midnight Phantasmagory") so my goal here is to have the book completed by JUNE for International Lolita Day. I know that sounds far off - here is a breakdown of what will happen inbetween now and then:

Post finished cover on blog
Assemble book in InDesign
Post low-res pdf so each artist can check their bio information for accuracy
Make any necessary edits
Upload to Lulu
Order proof copy from Lulu
Review proof copy
     (if proof copy needs edits, edit & then order 2nd proof)
Post announcement on where to purchase finished book

Whew! Ok, I think that's everything! If you have any questions on the process, please feel free to post them below.

(and as a side note, I'll be attending SakuraCon this weekend and have some pieces in the artshow. if you'd like to say hi, send me a message! i'll be attending the majority of the lolita-themed events)