Spirits in the Sky: My senior capstone project at Drexel University
This project is a book about angels. I love the idea of these beautiful, mystical creatures watching over you with unconditional love. This book mostly contains information that I had to investigate through my local library’s encyclopedias. Through these pages, I unearthed a generous amount of content that I have divided into various chapters. The final chapter lists these resources I found during my search. Photo credits are listed, as well. All images were taken from Unsplash.com
NOTE: Due to COVID-19, I was unable to properly photograph this book project. The jpegs from my InDesign files are displayed as spreads and NOT individual pages.
Design Goals
I need to take the information from these dull-looking encyclopedias, and create a book that's much more fun to read. Unlike the encyclopedias, this book is going to have a dreamy quality. When I think of angels, I think of softness, featherlight touches, and a sense of mystery. Angels, after all, aren’t exactly visible to us. To achieve this goal,
I needed to spread this celestial theme through the imagery, the grid, and the typography.
I needed to spread this celestial theme through the imagery, the grid, and the typography.
This goal especially applies to the images. At first I could have just used them the way they were. While the images are beautiful and convey celestial themes on their own, I needed to dive deeper and think about how I can further push the message of a soft, dreamlike haze. My solution was to cast a transparent overlay of colors gradating over
the images.
the images.
This before-and-after shows the original image and how it transforms into this design.
The images are also cropped in certain areas which worked with the established grid.
Not only was it a structural intention, but it also hid parts of the image, which echoes angels hiding from our visible world. The corners are rounded off to evoke the softness
of feathers, as well. Some images are contained within the grid, while others take up
the whole page.
Not only was it a structural intention, but it also hid parts of the image, which echoes angels hiding from our visible world. The corners are rounded off to evoke the softness
of feathers, as well. Some images are contained within the grid, while others take up
the whole page.
Mentioning the grid, I have it set in a modular orientation. This allowed me to make various layouts to accompany text, images, and page information, all neatly organized but at the same time variable from one page to the next.
Of course, I can’t forget about the typography. The best approach was to use a serif type face that featured that delicate softness. Bodoni was a great headlining typeface with a delicate nature, while one of the more ancient typefaces, Jenson, helped make body copy easy to read with its serifs. All text has a consistent hierarchy that’s easy to follow, and there is generous white space in the margins to help evoke a light and airy feeling to the pages. Angels need plenty of room to fly, after all.
Keeping the dreamlike, airy, and celestial theme in mind helped guide my design choices in imagery, grid structure, and typography. My goal was met: presenting information about angels in a much more fun, eye-catching, and compelling way.
Chapter Summaries
The table of contents lists the chapter previews using the introductory images. Each chapter has a color theme involving a main color and a secondary color. That color combination is used as a gradient, which casts over the images transparently. Also, in
the pagination margin, a circle will be colored to indicate the current chapter. I will
briefly discuss each chapter’s topic. As mentioned before, the final chapter lists my sources and photo credits. Chapter 1 introduces angels and gives information about
what they are and what their meaning is.
the pagination margin, a circle will be colored to indicate the current chapter. I will
briefly discuss each chapter’s topic. As mentioned before, the final chapter lists my sources and photo credits. Chapter 1 introduces angels and gives information about
what they are and what their meaning is.
Above: Table of Contents. Below: Chapter Introductory Spreads.
Chapter 2 details a cosmic relationship of angels. Some religions believed in a dualistic (heaven and hell) world of angels. Other religions believed in a tripartite cosmos where angels lived in the ultimate celestial world amongst the terrestrial physical world we live in, and finally the sub terrestrial or dark underground world.
Chapter 3 discusses the different types of angels. Benevolent angels are the virtuous ones, who help others in need. Contrary to that, malevolent angels are the ones who hinder others and cause misfortunes. Lastly, there are ambivalent angels who are
neither good nor bad. They are simply neutral and can be swayed to be either a help
or hindrance. This overall covers the information the encyclopedias provided.
neither good nor bad. They are simply neutral and can be swayed to be either a help
or hindrance. This overall covers the information the encyclopedias provided.
Chapter 4 is a special chapter. I invented this information out of wonder for fantasy. I created my own angel characters that possess elements of the sky. There’s a rain angel,
a sun angel, and a light angel. They each have their differences and personal flaws they struggle with. In fact, because of their differences in their sky elements, this leads to fighting, and the goddess of the angels must stop the commotion. This covers mostly the entire book, however I haven’t addressed a motif I incorporated into my designs.
a sun angel, and a light angel. They each have their differences and personal flaws they struggle with. In fact, because of their differences in their sky elements, this leads to fighting, and the goddess of the angels must stop the commotion. This covers mostly the entire book, however I haven’t addressed a motif I incorporated into my designs.
A Personal Touch
Many page spreads have a line of circles in a group together. Some are big, and some are small. These circle clusters are called penny motifs. The penny motif brings a personal story to my design.
My mother and grandmother would say they found an angel if they picked up a penny lying on the ground. I never knew what that meant, so I looked it up online. Turns out, pennies on the ground communicate to us. These pennies let us know our loved
ones in heaven are okay. They can also symbolize good luck and angels wanting to
help you. My mother and grandmother took joy in collecting these forgotten pennies,
but unfortunately for my grandmother, things weren’t going so well for her.
ones in heaven are okay. They can also symbolize good luck and angels wanting to
help you. My mother and grandmother took joy in collecting these forgotten pennies,
but unfortunately for my grandmother, things weren’t going so well for her.
During the creation of this book, my grandmother passed away. Before she passed, I told her I’m dedicating this book to her. The dedication features a rising sun over the ocean. With each new day, time will heal this awful wound. The day of her funeral, I wrote a short passage that I read to my family. "...but now you'll fly, with the spirits in the sky."
And to my realization, that’s what I titled my book.
The front and back cover of the book, as well as the spine.
