Thumbnail Illustrations

For a few years I did a number of projects for the now, sadly, defunct Shaman Drum bookshop in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The work ranged from small in-store displays, larger window displays, an enormous installation for the children's section and some images for their website.

The images shown here were all done as illustrations for the website, meant to symbolize various categories of books being sold. The images were also designed to be viewed at a small thumbnail size of less than an inch in height, which is how they appeared in their header locations on the category settings.

The actual pieces weren't much bigger. Most were less than five inches in height. The visual components had to be simple and easy to read at such a small scale and also to visually encapsulate what they represented. I also tried to stay away from obvious clichés.

Since Shaman Drum is no longer with us and their website is now simply an announcement of closure, I've decided to post the images I created here, in an easier to view size. Click each image to enlarge. Keep in mind these were meant to be viewed much, much smaller.

The image at the top of this post was for "cultural studies."

                                                                       "Business"

 I think this one served double duty on "cookbooks" and "wellness."

"Environment and Science"

"Literature"

"Michigan and the Great Lakes"

"Language"

"Classical Studies"

"World Studies"

There were other categories that I never got to such as "History," "Philosophy" and "Poetry." There were some that were made for categories that ended up being dropped, and one other that I completed for "education," that I can't find the image for.

To see some of the other work I did for Shaman Drum, including the unused images for the dropped categories, look here and here.