Production Process
Throughout the Documentary Unit, I learned the ins and outs of Adobe InDesign. It was a process that took about the span of the entire second semester. Overall, this project made me a better and stronger artist because of all the stress and hardships that were presented during the time of creating. The first main step to all of this was brainstorming. At first, I was very unclear on what I wanted my topic to be. Both teachers and older peers who had done this project already made it very clear to me that I should choose a topic that I am truly passionate about. After hearing this and brainstorming, I decided upon ‘Body Image Perception’ is not only something I have seen myself struggle with but so many of the teens around me as well. Although I was told writing and graphic designing a book on an idea versus a person or place would be difficult, I was up for the challenge.
Once I was clear what my topic would be, I did some more research. I knew the basis of the issue in our society, but by the end of the project, I learned so much more than I thought existed on the topic. While researching, I came across a clinic called the Healthy Teen Project. There, they help teens of ages 12-22 with recovering from eating disorders. They work with the kids and their parents in finding a way to support a healthy recovery process. I immediately contacted them, hoping for an interview with someone who works there. Erica Bent, a psychotherapist there, responded and offered to meet with me! In addition to Ms. Bent, I contacted some girls my age to interview and get a teen’s perspective on the topic.
As I wrote the copy for the book in English, I started the process of designing the layout in Indesign. I started with the basic parts such as the outline for where everything would go, including photographs, copy and headers. I then went on to inserting page numbers and small aspects. Once I was finished with these first couple steps, I went into Adobe Illustrator, with the goal to create illustrations relative to the topic. As said before, I chose to write a book on an idea versus a person or place, so finding relative ideas for my illustrations was one of the first challenges I came across. Through lots of brainstorming, I came up with several ideas though.
I also had to be creative when it came to the photos I put in the book. I wasn’t able to shoot the idea of body image exactly, but I chose to shoot photographs of my interviewees as well as where they worked. I also decided towards the middle of the process, it would be both powerful and fun to have a photoshoot with a bunch of girls. I found time and invited every girl I could to be a part of it. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out as I thought it would, and only 8 people were able to make it. I feel that even though this happened, I was able to make the best of it. After all the outside work was done with writing, illustrating, and photographing, I placed everything in the book in InDesign.
Below are production process screenshots I took throughout the process of creating my book.
