Diploma project : "Madame Butterfly"
The only request for this last project is that the subject chosen has to be sufficiently complete
to give a global overview of the different skills I have learned and developed during my course.
Even if I have taken both options of editorial and web design, I have a personal preference for editorial design,
and I really wanted to create a book for this last and important project.
As I love illustration, and intend it to be part of my career as a graphic designer, I decided to create a book for children
about G.Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly. The book comes with a cd on which I recorded myself telling the story,
alternating with musical extracts from the opera. It is intended for children age 8-12.
The finished book (front and back) :
A few pages of the book :
The process behind the illustrations :
Some elements of decor :
Some backgrounds :
I designed this book in the spirit of an opera : The characters would be the most important, there would be a few elements of decor
that would remain the same throughout the story, and the background setting would be there to create the general ambiance.
The characters and decor elements where drawn using pencils and a black liner, the backgrounds where done with dry pastels.
Having strong illustrations, I wanted the layout of the text to be sober so it would not be competing with them (and create something
overwhelming visually), but rather highlight them. The shadings on the "inside" scenes are designed as a link between the text and
the illustrations. It also gives a more "intimate" feel to those scenes and creates a contrast with the scenes happening outside.
One word on why I chose this opera in particular :
Madame Butterfly is one of the most played operas in the world, and I wanted to make it accessible to children through this book
and cd. A lot of operas have dramatic endings like this one, and I think they are juste as interesting for children as "lighter" opera
(like The magic flute from Mozart for example). I also really appreciate the way Puccini's music convey the emotions in this opera,
and I think a lot of children might be receptive to that even if they don't always understand all the subtleties of the music or story.
