We Are Not A Virus

We Are Not A virus

LAYOUT DESIGN

Self Study

Objective

Design a star book with the goal of giving Asian Americans a voice to speak out about the racism their community has been facing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Talk to five people about the Coronavirus and their experiences, and create layout and illustrations about each person detailing their interview.

Dimensions

7”W x 11”H

COVER DESIGN

The paper cut illustration style was used for the cover design to match with the paper cut style of the book spreads. The blue background and white strips illustrates a mask, which represents the Coronavirus situation. To match with the content of the book, I used a silhouette of a person with flowers and vines growing inside of it. This is supposed to symbolize strength and beauty of the Asian identity and culture.

BOOK SPREADS

The book has five pages. Each spread features a person that was interviewed. Every spread consists of three layers of cardstock paper glued together. The first layer of each spread includes a portrait of the interviewee using the cut paper illustration style. The border features an illustration that represents something important in Asian culture or the current Coronavirus situation. The second layer includes the transcript of the interview. The last layer features an important quote from the interview.

Preliminary Layout

Final Layout

The illustrations are hand painted with gouache and the portrait illustrations are made with cut paper and ink. This technique was chosen to give the book a handmade quality which makes it feel more personal since the topic of the Coronavirus is very personal to many Asian Americans.