THE ZOO OF LOVE- a quirky illustrated book about relationships

INTRODUCTION / CONTENT

"The Zoo of Love" is a quirky illustrated book. It’s structured as an ABC where each letter is an animal, and each animal in turn represents a type of love or relationship through metaphors.

The illustrations are accompanied by text that adds to the image to create those metaphors or comparisons.

Visually it’s colourful and cheerful but the tone is bittersweet: it goes from tender to cheeky, from ironic to poetic… there’s the good, the bad and the ugly, like in love and relationships, a bit of everything.

Some examples: the butterfly as the lover who gives us wings, the possessive octopus with all its tentacles, the black and white zebra (the extremes, love-hate), the constancy of the ant, the self-protection of the tortoise…

Is it for adults or children? It is intended for adults, because of the theme that runs through the whole book, which are relationships. However, the little ones can enjoy the illustrations.

Why an alphabet? It was a way of structuring the book, giving it a format.

Where does the idea come from? From my fanciful imagination! I’ve always been fascinated by the animal world, and I also have a tendency to compare things, to draw parallels, and I love metaphors.

DEDICATED FROM THE HEART

The book is dedicated to my father, who had been following the development of this book closely since I had the idea years ago, from conception until almost completion, always encouraging and supporting me. Sadly he will not be able to hold it in his hands as he died of Covid19 in April. That's why I’m dedicating it to him.

QUALITY / FORMAT

The book has 60 pages in full colour with an anti-scratch hard cover, and a square format of 22cm x 22cm.

It will be printed at a high quality: semi-matt coated paper of 170 grams and varnished.

WHAT THE MONEY WILL GO TOWARDS

Most of the cost is for printing 500 books in high quality, in addition to the other rewards. I decided to print 500 because the cost is very high to begin with but it lowers per unit the more copies you print. I wanted the book to be hard-cover which I believe makes it a much nicer and better product, and that rather increases the cost.

The other major costs are the design and layout, and the postage of all the books and rewards.

There are also various additional costs: bank charges, taxes, packaging, the crowd-funding platform commission, and the purchase of the mandatory ISBN and barcode.

CALENDAR / DELIVERY

The book is ready to print. So if I achieve my goal, I will send it print as soon as the campaign is over. The campaign is 40 days long. Between the time it takes to print and the time it takes me to organize and ship all deliveries, I estimate a month and a half from the end of the campaign. So hopefully by Christmas.

REWARDS

There are different types of rewards, it depends on what you want to spend or can spend and what you would like to get.

I’ve given the different rewards animal names to keep with the theme.

Butterfly Pack

With this one you get the book and a specially designed bookmark.

Chameleon Pack

With this one you have the book but in this case signed and inscribed, you get a bookmark and also your name will appear in the printed book in the Thank You section.

Jaguar Pack

With this you the same as above but also a good quality print (matt coated, 250gr paper), limited edition. You will be able to choose from a selection of 6 illustrations from the book.

Quetzal Pack

This is the ideal reward for those who want a book for themselves and another one to give as gift. Both books will be signed and dedicated to whoever you want, you will have two bookmarks, and your name will appear in the thank you section of the book.

Meerkat Pack

This one is the same as the one above, but instead of 1 print you get 2 prints. Again, to choose from a selection of 6 designs available.

Squirrel Pack

Here you have the book signed and dedicated with a book mark, your name will be acknowledged in the book, and you also get an original illustration. There will be quite a few to choose from, you can contact me to share them with you, and they will be granted on a first come first served basis.

Rhino Pack

Here, in addition to the signed and dedicated book, the bookmark, and your name in the thank you section, you have the opportunity to ask me to illustrate an animal especially for you, whatever you choose. It will be a personalized illustration. Always following the format / technique I used in the book: A4 size, paper support, and using watercolour, colour pencils and / or acrylic.

Woodpecker Pack

Here you have the book signed and dedicated with a book mark, your name will be acknowledged in the book, and you also get 2 original illustrations. There will be quite a few to choose from, you can contact me to share them with you, and they will be granted on a first come first served basis.

MAIL - Extra costs

Shipping in Ireland, Northern Ireland and Spain is free of charge. Postage anywhere outside of these countries will have an additional cost of 10euro.

WHO IS BEHIND THE PROJECT

My name is Maria. I am from Barcelona but I have lived in Ireland on and off for 16 years and I am now settled there with my Irish husband and our children, Liam and Nora. We live in the countryside, in wild and beautiful Donegal. During the past decade and a half I have also lived in Dublin, London and Maresme. I like to roam! Years ago I got my BA degree in Audiovisual Communication and also studied two years of Fine Arts. I worked in development and production of documentaries and film festival organization, but I have reinvented myself several times. As far back as my memory reaches, drawing, painting and writing have always been my things. I generally have a few creative projects on the go at once. This one I have spent years thinking about and working on. I hope it can finally see the light!

OTHER LINKS

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