Update 11/17/13

Thanks for the suggestion about adding additional stars around the G, it does help ground it and put it into context! I tried out a few different color explorations as well:

The Fault in Our Stars - John Green - image 1 - student project

Just for practice, I took a stab at putting my first sketch into vectors--wanted to practice a letterform with more curvature. I def still think the other letterform is more appropriate for the book and this isn't so much, but was just curious to see what it'd look like! although it looks like a yellow/green on a black background!? it's supposed to be much lighter :) just pretend it is haha

The Fault in Our Stars - John Green - image 2 - student project

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Update 11/15/13

All, thanks so much for your feedback! It's cool to get a mix of advice both from people who read the book and have not, because you want the letterform to communicate something special to each of these audiences!

With that, I tried to take a stab at my 3rd sketch. I think this one best communicated the struggle and complexity within the book, and was in a way the most honest. As I was designing it, it started to take on more of a somber, ghostly feel too which I liked. Let me know if you have any thoughts! I might play around with switching some colors to see if any other combo gives off another feeling. (PS the background is a dark grey, it kinda looks like black right now)

The Fault in Our Stars - John Green - image 3 - student project

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Hi all!

I chose my letterform to be the letter G from John Green's "The Fault in Our Stars." It's the most recent book I read and was the freshest in my mind, and I loved how rich some of the metaphors and scenes were. I thought there would be a ton of moments in the book to experiment with. I narrowed down my sketches based off 4 key quotes that stood out to me:

sketch 1:

Hazel and Augustus are enjoying their first night out together when they get to Amsterdam. The two of them are only 16 and 17, but Hazel's mom let them roam around this city of freedom and enjoy one another unsupervised--Hazel refers to these moments as a "side effect of dying." The waitor brings them a bottle of champagne, which neither of them have tried. He tells them of what Dom Perignon first said when he accidentally invented champagne: "Come quick. I am tasting the stars." I thought this was such a beautiful quote and moment full of wonder.

The Fault in Our Stars - John Green - image 4 - student project

sketch 2:

"Spring Snow" in Amerstam. Hazel and Augustus are amazed by the number elm tree petals coating the streets and canals around the whole city. An old man on the bus tells them that this is their spring snow, and it is the confetti which greets the spring. John Green was also inspired by this spring snow while he was in Amsterdam. My letterform shows one flower shedding its petals into the water below:

The Fault in Our Stars - John Green - image 5 - student project

sketch 3:

This is when the book starts to get really, really sad. Hazel and Augustus are both dying and Augustus secretly starts writing her a eulogy--he mails his thoughts to the author of the book they were both in love with seeking his help. One quote from the letter was "My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations." I wanted to create a G made up of all these geometric pieces, seeking order. There's no formed contellation yet, just layers and layers of his thoughts.

The Fault in Our Stars - John Green - image 6 - student project

sketches 4 and 5:

A beautiful quote from Hazel: "I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, then all at once." It made me think of contrast, momentum...a letterform from thin to thick

The Fault in Our Stars - John Green - image 7 - student project

Let me know if you have any thoughts! What's working/what's not? If you read the book, what do you think best depicts the story?

- Rebecca

Rebecca Ussai

76

87