I illustrated three books written by Alexandra Morton, the marine biologist researcher, “Listening to Whales,” “Heart of the Ocean,” and “Not on my Watch.” These books are based in British Columbia, Canada, and focus on the importance of the wildlife, especially killer whales and salmon, to the ecosystem and to the natives there.
I chose to create these books featuring the animals they focused on while giving them tribal designs of the animals and the font showcases their importance to the native tribes. The water background also gives the sense of the ocean background where they live. The first book, “Listening to Whales,” is about orcas and so I illustrated two orcas on the cover looking at each other as though communicating.
The second, “Heart of the Ocean,” is about the introduction of salmon farms and the devastation to the wild salmon population, who are a key part of the ecosystem in B.C. One salmon is on top, while the other one is underneath and upside down, showing the importance of balance and the death of the fish occurring.
The third book, “Not on my Watch,” is about Alexandra Morton’s person journey as a marine biologist and her discovery of the dangerous effects of fish farming on the native populations. This illustration features two salmon, both covered in sea lice, a problem she spends many years studying in her book. The salmon are also traveling off the screen showing how the native populations are moving or dissapearing to different regions because they can’t survive the problems from fish farming in B.C.
Before I created these designs on Illustrator and InDesign I sketched out designs to better grasp what I wanted on the cover and to act as a guide when I did start designing.
