I wanted to design a gift for an author friend who has recently published two books.
I decided to create some library card gifts.
Library cards seem to be becoming a thing of the past. They evoke a sense of nostalgia in certain generations, and seeing as his book will probably never get a library card with stamps and signatures, that is what I set out to create for him.
I started by searching for images of old library cards. There were too many to choose from, so I ended up designing one for myself using them as inspiration.
I then found a selection of rubber stamp marks that include all the months and numbers that I would need to create the card stamps.
I asked all of our friends to write their name out and take a photo on their phones and send them over to me. (sounds like a scam but it was a genuine request, Honest!)
With all that info in hand ( on a computer really), I started work. I arranged the names randomly, and because I was planning on doing a card for each of his books, I needed to do all this twice but differently.
The dates were to start roughly when the books were released and then go on for around two weeks per name.
Some were handed in late, some were early, just to add some realism to the card.
I also changed the colour of the samps and the layout to make them feel more hand-stamped and real.
With all that said, here are the final products. (The names have been blurred out/censored to not be sharing peoples signatures, etc.,
in public.)
in public.)
First Book. A Sometimes Witty Journey Through Time.
Second Book. Bricks, Beams & Banter.
Here they are displayed on his bookshelf after being gifted to him.
