Umbrella Academy Fan Book
Designing For Fans
ADES 3500.501 Publication Design - Karen Dorff - Fall 2020
The Umbrella Academy is a Netflix Original show originally created by Gerard Way that first premiered in early 2019. The show follows a ragtag family raised to be superheroes as they struggle to come together to save the world from their own mistakes.
This project centered around creating a book and artifacts intended for fans of the series that would be unique to the show through the context of the design, as well as the content itself. Below is the start of my process, which began with research, thumbnails, and concept refinement.
After researching the show and thinking about what is really important to receive from a creation that hardcore fans would be interested in, I decided on arranging the project into two sections. One section would be a book that focused on the story, characters, timeline, and behind the scenes information and trivia, while the other section would contain the artifacts that would come as pieces of the set. These artifacts would be set in-universe to the series, meaning the they would seem as if they were taken from the story of the show itself.
Final Product
Cover
The cover of the book itself was intended to be something that would fit in with the artifacts as an in-universe piece when displayed. It would be made from a roughened material that held an embossing of a recreation of the emblem from the series, and would have a sophisticated look like it was meant to be a preserved album.
Character Spread
The character spreads were intended to be displayed as files from the Commission, a shadowed organization in the show that kept tabs on the characters, and featured designed artifacts such as stamps, tickets, images, and information about the storyline of the characters. This spread specifically also housed the poster that was included as an artifact of the set.
Timeline Spread
This spread showcases a timeline for the first two seasons, as the show is notorious for being harder to follow due to the constant time traveling and rewriting of events that occur throughout the plot. The timeline features images, descriptions of events, and a key showing which events were caused by linear time, or by time travel.
Commission Poster
This artifacts is a poster designed to look like it was taken off the walls of The Commission. It features a cheery style inspired by classic printed designs from the 60s, while displaying a dark scene that contradicts that- much like the posters seen in the background of the show in both seasons one and two.
Children of Destiny Pamphlet
This artifact is a pamphlet from Klaus’ cult. It uses intentionally off-putting and wonky design to show the personality of the organization, and features many nods to and quotes from songs that Klaus used to fool people into thinking he was a prophet.
