Skills
Graphic Prop Design
Layout Design
Book Binding
Prop Making
Wood Working
Set Decoration
Photography
Growling Greenhouse
In this project, I wrote the story, designed the graphics, and built the props. My mentor through AIGA, Scott Banks, provided guidance along the way.
The story was originally written for a course in Creative Writing for Haunted Experiences taught by Ted Dougherty. I revisited my project and decided to design and bind a book to house it in along with a set of props that support the story. I’m very passionate about storytelling, Halloween, and immersive experiences so this combined all my loves in one multifaceted project. I approached this project with the goal of making every design choice intentional to the story I’m telling.
Mastering Type
This project was selected to be in the Mastering Type: Second Edition publication. In an open call of 2,005 submissions this was one of 272 selected.
About The Bottle Props:
The bottle props within the chest were filled, aged, and labeled by me. I researched toxic plants and types of medicines used in the late 1800s. Aconite, or wolfsbane, was used at the time but can be lethal if overdosed. This plant is often associated with werewolves and is very important to the plot of my story. Many of these labels contain the botanical and I used red to symbolize the toxins both in these bottles and throughout the project. I also researched the style of bottles in the 1800s for reference on layout, the information needed, and different typefaces used.
The bottles were filled with alcohol, water, real and artificial plants, bone, snakeskin, and sticks. Each bottle was sanded, painted and some hand-dipped in wax. The labels were tea or coffee stained and some burnt with a lighter to show age. The ‘Lunarbane Essence’ was aged with butter and then washed with soap to create a transparent effect.
Botanical Illustrations from Adobe Stock, Photo Elements Generated by AI