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Light, Design, Action! Beginners Guide for Graphic Art in Film Props

Will be consisted of basic knowledge in typography, layout, papers, and additional tools specifically for creating artworks of graphic design in film props; an explanation of different film genres using many different design styles; and beginners to advanced crafting exercises to recreate film props from iconic films.

  • Graphic design in props filmmaking topic is growing larger in the light of Harry Potter souvenirs and Annie Atkins’ book.
  • The first niche book on graphic design in props filmmaking belongs to Annie Atkins. The book itself gives a description of Atkins’ experiences in creating beautiful handcraft props for big films, including The Bridge of Spies and The Grand Budapest Hotel.
  • The downside is Atkins’ book doesn’t have a generalized explanation of graphic design in props filmmaking as a whole, the book is specific towards her projects, while there were so many iconic graphic props in films that can be references and starting points for designers who want to delve deeper into the field.
  • Other than Harry Potter; graphic props from horror movies, action movies, or even other fantasy movies are quite often to be dismissed because of their limited screen time, but those props are as important as actors because they serve as interaction objects to make movies more believable.
  • The field is rare and only emerging as a topic nowadays (after Atkins’ book). The topic for books is also rare because most film books are driven by the script/cinemaphotography of movies, and craft books are driven by house hobbies (knitting, DIY). And movie design/art books are usually published by film studios (Pixar, Disney, Warner Bros) which refer to art concepts and character concepts from their movies (e.g The Art of Coco).

Light, Design, Action! Beginners Guide for Graphic Art in Film Props

Title: Light, Design, Action! Beginners Guide for Graphic Art in Film Props

Overview:

Light, Design, Action! Beginners Guide for Graphic Art in Film Props is published for the “stuck-in-between” graphic designers looking to expand their knowledge on the newly emerging field between graphic design and filmmaking. Instead of just laying out photographs of different graphic props from different movies, the book will also include several pieces of knowledge that designers are already familiar with – such as typography, layout, design style and its relation to movie genres, as well as additional tools which are specified in this field – in order to give readers some necessary references.

The book is a great topic for graphic design and movie lovers to start a conversation about a certain design in a movie. It is also a mix of graphic design in movies and craft books. The last chapter of the book will incorporate several ‘How to Design Them Yourself’ graphic design projects which are inspired by existing movie props. The book aims to give readers experience in creating easy to more advanced movie props. Additionally, these projects can be used for the readers’ portfolios. The book will be written by Evan Wijaya, a designer who found his love for design in movies after being inspired by Annie Atkins and the world of Harry Potter. After delivering outstanding graphic props for Netflix, his demand as a specialist in the field has gotten higher. He is the perfect author as well as a designer to write and reimagine the ‘How to Design Them Yourself’ exercises.

Price: £25

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Primary Market:

Fresh graduates of graphic designers who have an interest in movie production, especially graphic design in films. Ages 22-25. This market is still exploring the world of graphic design and the opportunities the field has to offer. This is perfect for those looking for a specialist graphic design book to start drafting their own portfolios.

Secondary Market:

The book serves another purpose to be a reference book in graphic design schools. There aren’t many books or journal articles talking specifically about graphic art for film props, so this is a creative opportunity to expand in the market.

Chapters

Some References to Start:

  • Typography
  • Layout
  • Papers
  • Tools

Styles and Genre:

  • Horror
  • Thriller
  • Drama
  • Fantasy
  • Children

How to Design Them Yourself

  • Harry Potter Hogwarts Acceptance Letter – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
  • The Book – The Devil Wears Prada
  • Golden Ticket – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
  • Bilbo’s Deed of Contract – The Hobbit
  • Burn Book – Mean Girls
  • Spell Book – Hocus Pocus
  • Juliet’s Notebook and Research Papers – The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Other Specification:

The book will consist of several typefaces’ images, snapshots of graphic props layout, existing graphic props images and tools images from photo stock resources, as well as photographs for preparation, execution, and final design process of each of the 7 graphic props exercises.

Complementary/Competitive Titles

Fake Love Letters, Forged Telegrams, and Prison Escape Maps: Designing Graphic Props for Filmmaking by Annie Atkins. Strengths: The first design book specialized in film props. The author has her own community and is oftentimes invited to seminars. The book consists of Atkins’s amazing and skilled film props from her previous works, including Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel which was beautifully photographed and layout. Weakness: It’s a more personal book, instead of a generalized version of the profession. Although the photographs and her works are spectacular, the book lacks the projects’ background and process explanation which are important for designers to learn.

The Graphic Art of the Harry Potter Films by Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima. Strengths: The first graphic design book for Harry Potter film props. Displaying the designers’ most famous Harry Potter film props. Artworks are beautifully photographed and layout. Weakness: It is quite thin in pages for an art book. Only photos, no explanation or background, more like a photography book instead.

The Magic of Minalima by Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima. Strengths: A more detailed version of the first book. Signed by authors. Includes Fantastic Beasts film props as well. The book attracts international fans from all over the world. Includes explanation, background, and execution process of each artwork. Weakness: quite expensive for students in graphic design schools, more fitting to be a gift for fans.

USP’s

  1. The very topic of graphic design in film props is quite rare. The subject has only recently got popular because of Annie Atkins and the two designers from Minalima Studio. And while other books are more specific towards certain movies, Light, Design, Action! Beginners Guide for Graphic Art in Film Props will display different styles for each movie genre.
  2. The book is listed as a cross between film/graphic design/craft books. It engages the readers to “create” as well as reading it. It has an opportunity to drive graphic designers to start making their movie props portfolio.
  3. It’s affordable for graphic design students. The book is designed to be read whilst working/making artwork. It is not designed to be carefully read with clean hands. The book encourages its market to include the book in the consumers’ design process.
  4. Consists of the author’s real artwork exercises which are photographed and layout in sequence. The photographs will include preparation, process, design execution, and final design steps. Readers will follow these photos easily whilst making their own projects.