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Magenta PDF Chapbook

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:bulletgreen: DOWNLOAD TO VIEW INTERACTIVE PDF! :bulletgreen:
The document viewer deviantART has will not show you the interactive buttons or sound effects.

Download Size: 7.4 MB

This was the final project for my Adobe Acrobat class (oh yes, there is a class that
focuses entirely on the creation / editing of PDF's). We were asked to design an 8+
page interactive presentation that showcased all of our Acrobat skills learned thus
far. It had to be highly organized, easily navigated, feature some sort of multi-media
(such as sound or video), and maintain a consistent aesthetic from page to page.

My first thought was a design portfolio, but I knew that I would be making one in my
final portfolio class, so I instead looked to something a little bit more personal: my
poetry. I had made a printed chapbook before but never thought of designing one
that could be distributed online. I collected what I believe to be my six best poems
and illustrated a 10 page document around their common theme: subject/purpose.

As the chapbook explains on the About page, this collection commemorates the 5
year anniversary of a fallout I had with my ex-best friend (as well as other friends).
Although it was hard to revisit, I wanted to do this because it stands for me finally
being able to leave this event behind. It's symbolic of me starting another chapter
in my life because in this fifth year, I found the closure I had been searching for.

I chose a winter tree in the midst of returning to its former glory because it really
represents where I'm at right now. I am experiencing new life after a long, drawn
out period of dejection. I have finally arrived at my Spring. The coloring reflects the
title (Magenta), which is also the name of my favorite poem within this piece. All of
the poems here are in my gallery already, so the only thing new is the PDF layout.

A couple things about the file itself: it's rather large due to all of my illustrative work,
but it's absolutely worth the download time! The first page opens with a soft piano
track (Comptine D'un Autre Ete by Yann Tiersen, very lovely) which stops when you
move to the next page. All of the navigation text and buttons are interactive, so
click away! The last page has contact information with my dA email and galleries.

I worked so crazy-hard on this project back in March. The interactive navigation was
the biggest challenge and also the greatest joy. It's so satisfying to click something
and immediately be taken to that page instead of scrolling down. I also really love
the final layout and color scheme, it's very soothing and very… me. You know how
I love my clean vector graphics, lol. It feels a lot like a website as you go through it.

Please, please leave a comment and tell me what you think! No critique desired, I am
just really curious to hear what you think of it. It's something I am really proud of.

Completed March 14, 2011. Designed in Illustrator CS5.

:bulletgreen: Typefaces: JasmineUPC & TrebuchetMS
© 2011 - 2024 SaraChristensen
Comments13
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kittykittyhunter's avatar
This has to be one of your best projects. :D

I love the minimalistic layout. The font choices and colour schemes were excellent. :D They're not all bouncy and bright and OTT, but they're more neutral and calm - a bit more warm autumn than cold winter. ^^

And the navigation is really good. I think this, along with your Safari webpage, are among my two favourite projects by you. ^^

Brilliant work! Now I want one, LOL!