MALIGNED MISFITS:
A GUIDE TO THE ANIMALS WE OVERLOOK
Senior Capstone – Book Design
PUBLICATION
ILLUSTRATION
IMAGE MAKING
MERCH
Student Project
Winter 2025
Ten Weeks
Maligned Misfits, my senior thesis project, is a book with the goal of showcasing overlooked wildlife and wildlife with a negative public opinion. I wanted to highlight and showcase these animals in a positive, fun light, while also still making it clear these are wild animals best left alone.
Design goals for this project include utilizing strong imagery through illustration and image manipulation, balancing consistent color systems and organization with different layouts and subjects, utilizing bold typography, and maintaining an informative, yet fun attitude. All illustrative elements were created by me, and the entire final book was physically assembled, as well as a sticker example and bookmarks. Flip through the digital version of the book below, or here
Select page examples, showcasing a few of the varied layouts and sections.
Select isolated illustrations from various book sections. American Crow Illustration in the top right image was heavily referenced from: Tim Spouge, CC BY-ND 2.0 < https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/> via Flickr
Merchandise options to promote book publishing and launches at bookstores. Stickers would be included with each hardcover book copy. The exact sticker would be a mystery to readers, but be 1 of 12 of the animals featured in the book.
Each animal has a corresponding primary color, secondary color, and dark text color. Each color appears twice in the book, one time as a primary color and another as a secondary color for unity.
Inspired by field guides, icons appear in the top right corner of each first animal page so that the reader can easily find an animal based on the defined categories.
