2008 WCPL Gamecard

Client: Washington Centerville Public Library

This was the 6th Summer Reading Program game card I created for Centerville Library in Centerville, Ohio.

The library's theme centered on the Book of Kells and so I looked to the book for imagery that I could incorporate into the design. The gamecard is used by children to keep track of the number of hours or books they read during the program so it was important to include a numbering system that was clear.

The card was also going to be divided into three pieces to be handed out when readers reached the end of each page. The client also wanted to incorporate a labyrinth and have it be kid friendly. As I mentioned earlier, the book of Kells was the primary theme so I wanted to bring in design elements from the book of Kells as well as other illuminated manuscripts of the time. To that end I designed borders for the pages similar to those used liberally throughout illuminated manuscripts. I also wove in creature designs and tried to make them appear "friendly" by making them smile of softening their eyes.


Each panel also incorporates the Children's Summer Reading Logo, affectionately dubbed "Dewey" by the library staff. Dewey was also my creation and served as a unifying image for the triptych.


The entire piece was designed using Corel Painter for sketchwork and Illustrator CS for primary linework. My style with that is somewhat labor intensive but yeilds a more painterly image. as I mentioned earlier, this was my sixth Gamecard for WCPL and proved to be more challenging in terms of research and authenticity. I strove for an appearance of modernity to appeal to children and parents while incorporating the design elements from the early illuminated manuscripts.