As a student-managed printing house at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, The Teaching Press provides hands-on learning opportunities for undergraduates to learn transferable skills in a variety of interdisciplinary fields, one of which includes book design. During the summer of 2021, Teaching Press Interns JouLee Yang and Ali Juul took on the role of Design Team Leads for an exciting new Teaching Press Project. Under the direction of Dr. Rebecca Meacham, JouLee and Ali learned the ins and outs of book design and completed some stunning design work for the press. In a brief interview, Ali and JouLee shared some of their personal insight about book design and working with the Teaching Press.
How has working with Morgan and the press interns influenced the changes you have made to the book designs throughout this process?
JouLee: Working with Morgan and the press interns really helped me become more organized and force myself into a simpler mindset. I think with projects like this, I like to go above and beyond which is fine, but the real emphasis and thing that does the heavy work is Morgan’s words. I’ve had to force myself to take a step back, re-evaluate my work, and then focus on the manuscript to feel satisfied with the design, which even when simplified, still focused on what mattered most.
Ali: Collaborating with Morgan and the press interns definitely helped me out when I was struggling the most in the beginning. I knew that my illustrations weren’t always reflective of the story or didn’t mesh well together, but I wasn’t sure in which direction to take it in order to start solving the issues. With their input, the illustrations have become a lot more cohesive with each other and less overpowering of the text.
What was your favorite part of working on the design for the book (illustrating, layout, etc.)?
JouLee: I think my favorite part about working on the layouts was trying to figure out what sort of layouts to use. There were so many different things that could have been used to create the book that I was left floundering on what to do with it. After receiving critique, it helped me realize the difference between the layout of more creative works like posters and such and then the layout for a book.
Ali: I mainly worked on the illustrations, so I would have to say that. They were a lot of fun to work on, considering most of the drawings were of things I’ve never drawn before. It pushed me to go outside of my comfort zone.
What was the most challenging part of completing the designs for Call Me Morgue?
JouLee: I think the most challenging part had to be figuring out how to even start. I was unfamiliar with InDesign and spent hours just playing around trying to figure things out. I spent hours figuring out what kind of layouts were possible on InDesign that I had sketched out and which ones had to be scrapped. I think once I had that settled, the rest of the project went pretty smoothly despite a few bumps on the road.
Ali: For me, the hardest part was definitely drawing all the bones, skeletons, brains, etc. Especially the foot, though–that one took me hours. These are things that I normally avoid drawing at all costs, so it was challenging to say the least.
What about the original manuscript inspired your initial designs for the book?
JouLee: Personally, the moment Morgan brought up the graphic novel idea, I was stoked. Although I’ve played around with the idea before with short stories and such, I’ve never tried adding it to a larger project, and the original manuscript with its humor and informal voice really suited a graphic novel layout. A lot of things that inspired my layout ideas came from trying to keep this more informal and humorous voice, by placing more attention on the words themselves or supplementing their power.
Ali: The blog format of the manuscript and the overall chatty, social media nature of the text definitely swayed the way I illustrated to be a bit more modern but quirky in appearance. I would also say that the simple, fun line art drawings seen on the Call Me Morgue blog really inspired a lot of my drawings, as well. I wanted to keep the overall look of this book reflective of that, while still adding my own twists.
What has been your biggest take away from working on the Call Me Morgue book design team?
JouLee: I think my biggest takeaway from being part of this project was feeling okay in taking a step back from the work. It’s okay to not be able to think up designs, of delegating work to other members and letting them take control of the project. It’s okay to go above and beyond with the most beautiful artwork, the most complex layouts, the most stunning presentations. Simple is beautiful and does its best in highlighting work when it’s all that’s needed. This project really helped me put aside my perfectionist mindset and focus more on what the project needs and wants rather than attempting to fine tune everything and wanting things to be extravagant.
Ali: My biggest take away from this project is that, sometimes you may work on things for hours and hours and be pretty proud of it, only for it to be rejected in the end. And that’s okay! It doesn’t mean that it’s bad. You just have to keep refining and refining that thing until it’s the best possible version of itself.
Walking away from this project, what is one aspect or element of the book design that you feel most proud of?
JouLee: I think I’m most proud of how well the planning for illustrations and the actual workings of them fit into the layouts. It was challenging to figure out what kind of illustrations would best fit the chapters and where exactly there was too much space for illustrations or too little. Being able to see the book come together with all of its illustrations working cohesively made me very proud.
Ali: I think the overall style of the illustrations mixed with the limited color palette is what I am most proud of. I don’t normally try to limit the colors I’m working with, and I was pleasantly surprised with how some of the illustrations turned out.
For more information about Call Me Morgue, visit the project page.