North Child Book Cover

For the book cover, I chose to use a very limited palette. The story takes place in a snowy region in Northern Europe, and much of the book involves exploration of the region, and hidden snow-covered castles, and even in a castle made of snow and ice. I felt that the palette should reflect the cold, icy feeling, but not convey the region in negative terms. The colors used are more reminiscent of nostalgic winter decorations to give the cover a better sense of the wonder and enchantment, and less of the unforgiving, cold northern climate. My goal was to make the snow and palette feel more welcoming, so that the reader would be invited by the snow rather than pushed away by it.

The only deviation from the cold palette colors is the red of the girl; it is almost a perfect opposite of the blue in the background. I felt it was important to place emphasis not only on the large white bear (who is emphasized simply by his size) but also on the girl, since she is the main character. It was important for me to show them together against the background of the snow, because the girl and the bear are at the heart of the story; the bear has come to shape Rose's life, and Rose comes to save the bears' life. Their lives have been intertwined, and I felt that it was important to demonstrate that relationship on the cover. I also wanted to show them together against the backdrop to give the reader a clue about the fantastic journey that these two take together.

The wind rose on the back is a symbol of Rose, and of the story. In the novel, direction and maps and exploration are large themes. Rose is named for the wind rose, and I thought it was an important part of the book. The wind rose is colored in the palette colors, including the red color I use for Rose's clothing.

The font I chose for the cover was Century Gothic. I felt it was right for the cover because of its slightly softer feel than Helvetica, and Gill Sans, etc, its excellent readability, and it's large, bold, simple, open lines. I wanted a font that would work with the cover, to help it achieve the same feeling of familiarity, but also excitement, and a font that would not steal attention from the graphic but would elevate it.

Narrator: Rose

Rose is the main character of the story. She's a free spirit; she's bold and hardworking and kind. I felt that for her character, I needed a font with elegant, clean lines, but with a more refined, classic look than Futura or Helvetica.

I chose Optima as the font for Rose. I felt that it suits her character very well. It is a very attractive, simple font. It is somewhat unexpected in its both classic and modern look. It has a certain flair to it that reminded me of the unexpectedness of Rose's character, and her love of family and adventure, her love of sewing and of exploration.

The juxtaposition of these characteristics lead me to the font Optima.

I chose to space the paragraphs and lines into a conversational manner; I have no doubt that the character would have enjoyed retelling the story of her first encounter with the white bear, so I wanted it to seem like the type of anecdote that would be told around a campfire; a table; or as a bedtime story.

Narrator: The White Bear

The White Bear narration style is very different from that of the other narrators in the story. The White Bear is really a human man enchanted into the form of a bear. The bear's thoughts are not as complex as a human's might be, so the narration is shorter and simpler.

I chose Helvetica for the font to enhance the simple narration and simple nature of the bear. Helvetica is a sans serif font with simple, clean lines and a large x-height. I found it to be suggestive of the simplicity of the bears' thoughts and narration style. I emphasized the white space around the text to keep with the cold nature of the book.

Narrator: Neddy

Neddy is the main character's older brother. He is quieter, more docile, and more artistic. In his spare time he draws maps and writes poetry. As the closest in age of the 6 brothers and sisters of Rose, he is the one in charge of keeping an eye on her.

For all of the narrators, I wanted to keep the spacing even and easy to read. The narrators all have every different perspectives, and so I wanted the consistency of the even spacing, white space, and borders (in the tradition of storybooks).

Neddy's font is Georgia. I chose Georgia for Neddy because it's more traditional and less bold Modern or Sans Serif styles, but isn't as heavy as an Old Style or Slab Serif font. Georgia is a very readable and stable font, with bracketed serifs and a large x-height.

The sentences are centered to look more like poetry. I've also broken up the paragraphs so that the pages are more conversational in tone.

Narrator: The Troll Queen

The Troll Queen is the reason the story exists. She is a hideous troll, with supernatural powers, and the daughter of the Troll King. When she is young, she encounters a human boy. She decides that he is her future husband, but her father sets an enchantment on the boy as a punishment to his daughter for being disobedient. The Troll Queen is cruel to all humans but this one, and she is harsh and brash, but secretly longs for the soft skin and coloring of humans.

For the Troll Queen, I chose to use the font Rockwell. Rockwell is heavy, unyielding, and bold. I thought it would be perfect for the Troll Queen, who is also heavy, unyielding and bold.

The text is aligned to the left side because it is more traditional, and also to help the reader more easily read the pages. The font for the Troll Queen can be harder to read, so aligning to the text to the left will make it easier for the reader to follow along with the story. The reader will be able to more fully appreciate the bold text and the words.

Final Project

My book for the final project is called "North Child" by Edith Pattou.

Summary: North Child is a deftly woven tapestry that melds traditional fairy tale motifs of both Beauty and the Beast and East of the Sun and West of the Moon, with the haunting icy lore of medieval northern lands. Told in a changing chorus of voices, including that of Rose, her hopeful brother Neddy, her regretful father, the charmed white bear, and the Troll Queen whose selfish wish is the catalyst that seals Rose’s fate, North Child will enchant any and all who venture within its pages.

I have chosen the characters of Rose, The White Bear, Neddy, and the Troll Queen for my project.