Hello all. For the past year I've been working on an illustrated version of the 1882 Gilbert & Sullivan operetta "Iolanthe." I posted the frontispiece in my gallery sometime back but the project is now well under way and I thought I'd seek out some feedback. The actual artwork is under the two Art tabs.

I'd really like to know what you all think.

Thanks!

http://www.iolanthe.co/

Now that is quite charming. Thanks for showing it to us.

The pages are well designed, colorful, spirited. I have a mild issue with the text--hard for me to read. My eyes, you know, aren't what they used to be.

You have a link to the music at YouTube. Have you thought of embedding the music with the pages? One could  listen to the opera while browsing your work.

Anyway, congratulations. It looks like a very personal project for you.

Thank you for the feedback. I am currently linked to someone else's YouTube channel for the music, though I do have it in mind that I'd like to get something on there myself. 

I am curious about your comment re: legibility as that has been a worry of mine. Is it the white on black text that is causing you the problem, the text in the ornate boxes on the first few pages or both? I like the black background and didn't want to clutter the page with comicbook elements like text boxes or word balloons. If I hear too many people say that the white on black is a problem, then I may have to consider it though.

Thank you very much for your thoughts.

The text does not contrast well with the brown bkg in the ornate boxes. The white on black is easier. However, in both cases the text is rather small. I don't like the idea of the text getting so big it takes over the page--the illustrations are quite rightly the center of attention--so I don't know how you could handle that. I'd like to be able to read the text more quickly, not puzzling over it. Perhaps if the text weren't in italic, it might be easier to read. I believe there are also some javascript magnifying-glass effects available that might allow a kind of partial magnification. Or text could be made to appear--somewhat larger--on mouse-over.

Text and illustration have an uneasy relationship. They are processed in different parts of the brain, and require a kind of shifting attention. Comics mostly get around that by having, well, rather primitive language, large and obvious. Pow! Bang! Eeeeek! Graphic novels usually separate the text, if it is at all complex, from the illustration. Words written are rather strange, you know. They aren't natural like sounds and pictures. They require an odd sort of complex translation, from squiggles on a page to the images and thoughts within the mind. The process has to be learned--the brain actually has to create a place for this, a separate area, which has to happen when you are young--or it won't happen at all. 

But the words are important....so it is a real design problem.....

Thanks again. I was already leaning toward eliminating the ornate box text in favor of the white on black text. Because this is a libretto, I was putting sung portions in italics and the spoken lines (recitative) in regular text. I know that comics and graphic novels also usually write in all caps, which I'd also like to avoid, but I also don't want reading it to be a headache. I'll just have to keep noodling with the text to make it easier to read.

Thank you again for your critique and for your encouragement. It's greatly appreciated. 

Please let us know as you make progress...it is a delightful work...

I certainly will. Much of the work was creating all the characters and sets, but that done, the work has been proceeding apace. Thanks again.