Fruzsina is a Glasgow-based freelance illustrator and graphic designer, originally from Budapest. She studied MA Graphic Design at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts and she is currently studying M.Des Illustration at Glasgow School of Art. Her main focus is branding, package design, editorial design, and illustration.

About the Project

This was my first successful attempt to combine editorial design, typography, and branding, where I worked on a complex illustrated project from the idea right until the final product. This is the most complex personal project I worked on so far, and I wanted to share my enthusiasm for storytelling and design. 

Brief

I believe old legends are worth saving, because fables provide one of the most fascinating ways for us to understand our own cultures and others around us, so I decided to design a brand for tale-telling sightseeing kits.

Research

The main item is an illustrated book of local legends. After I designed the brand elements of the project I chose the beautiful and historical city of Esztergom, Hungary, to realise and introduce them. I collected legends, rewrote them into tales and illustrated them. The aim of this project was to create a resource that enhances a tourist’s experience of the city and also helps locals to get closer to their hometown. The two biggest challenges of the research were writing and designing something that can be exciting for both adults and children, and designing a traditional printed kit that could still be an interactive experience for the user.

Materials

This is a traditional printed kit with many elements. The package contains a book, a map, a poster, some stickers, postcards, bookmarks, storytelling cards, and a pin badge.

Process

I had to develop every part of the project in parallel, as all the individual parts affected each other: designing a brand with a logo and designing the layout of the book, doing research on old legends and writing tales, drawing a map and choosing the right sights to be able to plan a three-hour-long walking tour in the city, illustrating the tales, icons and buildings and designing all the printed elements.   

Numbers

The book contains 10 tales. The tales feature 3 magical healing stone heads, 1 vanished painting, 2 suspicious deaths, a few sunken ships with treasures, many lazy hunters, hero warriors and even more.

Insights

I learned that even if a project seems too big to handle and almost impossible to realise, you have to just do it step by step, but you will need to have the time and enthusiasm for it.

Advice

If you have the chance, always save some time to work on your personal projects!