Context
This is a page from a larger work in progress, A is for Ambroseburg; an alphabet book by writer Michael Wells and myself.
The Problem
Mike’s script is deliberately vague, letting my illustrations to tell the deeper story. We discussed potential directions I could take the visual accompaniment, but final decisions were left in my hands.
In terms of storytelling, the main challenge was fleshing out when and why the citizens of Ambroseburg “decided to get rid of their witches” and speculate upon what present-day significance the gallows may hold in the town.
To keep consistent with the rest of the book, all image and text elements needed to appear on the page without ruled borders separating them. Therefore, the main design challenge was to incorporate the words and the two depictions of past and present together as an organic whole.
The Process
I start each page with doodles and notes. It had been established that the town was founded in the latter half of the nineteenth century, meaning the gallows would have been erected after that time. I ultimately decided to set the story in the context of the 1980s Satanic Panic. This excited me because the event would be in living memory of many of the townspeople, making the bland annual festival it inspired all the more absurd.
Revealing the history via a pile of newspaper clippings proved to be a good solution not only in terms of visual composition (the ragged edges of the torn paper formed a soft frame), but also as a means to further dig into the backstory from a number of perspectives. I was even able to incorporate characters who appear elsewhere in the book.
Results
The book is still in progress, so its ultimate success remains to be seen, but this page was well received by both my co-author and on social media, where I picked up some new readers as I posted progress updates.
