04 May Emma and Austen

Introducing you to Emma

Emma was Jane Austen’s fourth published novel and the last to be published before her death. It is considered by many to be her most accomplished and witty of works.

It is a novel about matchmaking and assumptions. A cautionary (and humorous) tale on perils of vanity and letting it lead you to the wrong match.

The novel is a comedy of manners and the main character, Emma Woodhouse, is a heroine with many imperfections and yet you cannot help falling for her, even when you want to strangle her for her meddling!

After the success of the Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility ranges I knew that Emma had to be my next novel.

Where my design process began

When I start to look at new literary pencils my design process always starts with the book. Sometimes I read it on my kindle, but I normally prefer to flip through an actual book. Using post it notes to make notes and mark quotes and important sections.

I don’t go near the internet until I have read the book and made my own opinion on what quotes stand out to me. One reason I do this is, the internet is often wrong. Especially when it comes to Jane Austen quotes. Her novels have been adapted into so many TV series and films that often some of the most famous ‘Austen’ quotes are not actually written by her. So I go straight to the source and pick out my favourites first.

I try to balance it to show the breath of the story and the progression of its characters. Capturing moments of importance in the heroine story. I then whittle it down to my short list. You can see my process below and the quotes that I ended up picking.

For the Emma pencils I wanted a design that reflected the whimsical romantic nature of the novel. I did a ‘vision board’ in my design notebook, taking imagery and wording that came to mind when I was reading the novel.

Then comes the really fun part. Creating the illustrations, choosing the colour palette and painting the watercolour flowers. I decided on  a design inspired by peony roses and delicate blooms in shades of pink.

The Finished Product

And then comes the photography, trying to capture the mood of the design so that people anywhere in the world can see the Emma Jane Austen pencils and buy them!

I hope you have enjoyed this little insight into my design process and how a new set of Literary pencils comes to be.

You can buy your own set of Emma pencils here 

Until next time – Vanessa