Feeling Trees

DESCRIPTION

Feeling Trees is a book that I designed, illustrated, and wrote. It is about the process and the necessity of healing by doing the hard work of visiting past traumas. The words for this book came flowing out of me as I sat on my balcony, staring at the large tree in front of my yard while processing the many traumatic events that happened in my life at the time.

I hope this book brings comfort and healing to anyone who comes across it. Whether it reminds them that they are not alone in their struggles or gently encourages them to keep going, I hope it inspires healing of the deepest kind and that they can absorb the wisdom of these 100+-year-old trees.

APPROACH

For my final design, I ended up deciding to include all hand-drawn illustrations which I drew on my iPad in Procreate. Since the poem is entirely written by me, I wanted to make sure everything else was also done by me to make it a true passion project. I decided to break the rules of any one grid like a true poem would and decided to let the poem and illustrations guide me. I chose a color palette that includes shades of turquoise and red. Red represents the pain we feel when we are hurt and the pain we revisit when we begin the journey to healing. Deep turquoise represents calmness and clarity as we further our healing process. Both colors are on opposite sides of the color wheel to represent the balance that is needed to clear the path to spiritual growth and mental stability. I extended the brand by making a branded postcard (which could be used as a bookmark).