Luminarium Illustrations
Ivonne Karamoy
This post is long overdue but after a few months I finally got my copy of Luminarium! This year I had the fortune of working again with Alex Shakar. I met Alex through my friends at EFS. Early this year he contacted me to develop his website just in time for the launch of his new novel, Luminarium, in August. The website turned out well and Alex has been blogging while on his book tour to keep us all up-to-date on his happenings.
What I may have briefly mentioned is that I began working with Alex not on his website but on his recent novel Luminarium when it was in it's post-writing, near-publication days. Back in 2009, while in the studio at EFS he approached my desk and asked if I did any illustration work and if I would be interested in doing some illustrations for his novel. I was shocked that he thought to ask me (I'm sure DL/SG at EFS had something to do with it) and I was honoured and excited!
I didn't know much about Alex's work but he outlined the novel and the themes within and his vision for the illustrations which would mark each of the chapters in his book. He wanted simple illustrations that mimicked icons on a computer desktop. They were to be small and minimalistic but easily identifiable. They were to be straight up black and white or at the most with slight gradations of grey.
This first project with Alex was an eye-opener for me as it allowed me to really focus on an idea and simplify it in an illustration. As always, Alex was great to work with and I've fulfilled a (silly... or not so silly now) dream of seeing my name in print and my work published. It was the start of more things to come. Those same icon illustrations appear in the intro sequence to his website.
If you haven't read any of Alex's work, take a look at his website and his works in particular. His writing has received great critical acclaim and Luminarium has been named one of the best novels of 2011 by several publications and editors. I strongly suggest you read Luminarium! The story struck a chord with me and it explores some interesting philosophical and spiritual ideas without losing its heart.
Congratulations to Alex Shakar and best wishes!