Hamartia was the first time Swoon took on a major project from inception to delivery, in fact it is definitely our first full book box and we were so lucky to work with Scarlett who took a chance on us. It can be scary as an indie author to hand over the trust to take their words and turn it into something really incredible.
It started with a Canva PDF.
Actually, that's a lie. It started with an Instagram message on 11 May 2024, which just goes to show how long these things can take! From there we reread Hamartia (again) and sent Scarlett a "vision" board. It was very bare bones, just with a general vibes view and as you'll see below, while we are not graphic designers we always come in with a strong voice to what we envision the project to look like.
Honestly, looking back we really kept true to the original vision, with the help of Farah!
From here, we got the (shocking, considering our skills) green light from Scarlett and were able to work up a much better idea of what the project would look like and what we wanted to deliver in full. The aim of Swoon is always to create bespoke merchandise that can be integrated into the homes of our customers and readers, from a "if you know, you know" perspective.
When we read our titles, we look out for things that revolve around our senses, such as taste, touch and feel, as well as the little details that build the world around us. We always ask ourselves the question of what would the characters wear, what would they eat and how would they smell? From there, we really leave no crumbs with our ideas.
The Hamartia swag came easily: Rapha is obsessed with how Jae smells, we had a rich cultural franchise to pick from when it came to K-pop and Rock & Roll, and vivid descriptions of clothing.
We also had the ear of Scarlett who was excited, and were working with professionals who were existing fans of the book. And believe me, that helped to create what is a Gold Standard Special Edition Book box.
Clever. Immersive. Luxurious.
Once we engaged our amazing designer, Farah, we had an in-depth discovery call and drafted the scope of the project and what Farah's level of participation would be. We truly lucked out with her, and her patience as we navigated things that we hadn't considered before. She provided an amazing brief, and we were thrilled to have her passionate input!
While Farah was busy making things beautiful, we had to engage all new manufacturers and printers, order samples and make sure everything was up to tip-top-quality.
