About this project
Amelia's Colourful Colouring Companion: Adult Coloring Book
£11,075
365
Hi, my name is Amelia Gregory and I’m an independent publisher and creator of Amelia’s Magazine and 3 illustration books so far.
Last year I successfully raised over £14,000 to produce a special 10th anniversary book on Kickstarter, so this year I’ve returned to publish another book, inspired by the huge interest in colouring books for adults. If you are looking for an unusual, beautiful, high quality colouring book that stands out in the crowd then this is the one for you!
Amelia’s Colourful Colouring Companion:
Ten years ago I published a series of colouring pages in issue 4 of Amelia’s Magazine, each by a different artist (featured in the video above). My new colouring book, Amelia’s Colourful Colouring Companion, will follow a similar idea, featuring the work of 40 super talented artists. Each artist answered an open brief to illustrate a double page for the book, with a full colour image on the left hand side and a black and white line drawing on the right hand side. I asked that the images be similar (but not the same) providing colourful inspiration for the reader and a wonderful platform to show off work for the artists. You can see some examples of the artwork inside the book on this page and in my video above.
40 Artists:
The artists come from all over the world, with talented recent graduates from UK art colleges joined by established artists looking for a unique creative outlet to showcase their work. There are contributors from Sweden, India, Guatemala, Austria, Japan, Colombia, the US and more.
I left the open brief completely open ended so the results showcase a huge range of styles and ideas, but the one thing all the artworks have in common is that they are beautiful and unusual. Whether you are already a colouring enthusiast or are thinking about giving it a go, this book is perfect for you and will also make an excellent Christmas present for that special someone: I have therefore made it easy to buy one, two or three copies in one pledge. And if you buy 3 Early Bird copies you'll get the biggest bargain of all!
Mock up of the book:
The mock up shown above has been produced by my printers in Kent and gives you an idea of how the finished book will look. The book is 96 pages long and will be printed on beautiful high quality thick paper which will happily take coloured pencils and pens without any bleed through. It has thick cover stock and Amelia’s Colourful Colouring Companion will be bound using the lay flat binding process ensuring that it lays flat when you are colouring in a page: this is a very expensive way to produce a book so most commercial publishers will not do it, but since it ensures a high quality colouring experience I think it is worth doing. It also means that it is easy to remove an individual page for display should you want to do so.
Find out more about the artists:
Each artist will have a short bio and description of their work at the back of the book, so you’ll be able to find out more about those you love the most. In the meantime I have been busy posting in depth interviews with all the featured artists on my website, so do click on the links below to find out more about each one. I'll be adding to this list as the interviews go live.
Alex McGinn, Ana Jaks, Antonia Parker, Ashley Le Quere, Augusta Akerman, Becky Dinnage, Caitlin Gardiner, Claire Powell, Eleanor Percival, Eliza Fricker, Erika Rier, Ewelina Skowronska, Feronia Parker-Thomas, Hannah Rollings, Harriet Plaskitt, Hazel Partridge, Ignacia Ruiz, Jack Bailey, Jennifer Leem-Bruggen, Jenny Tang, Jo Taylor, Johan Lindstrom, Josh Patterson, Kaja Szechowsko, Laura Schofield, Libby Parra, Lorna Scobie, Lydia Coventry, Manic Minotaur, Margo McDaid, María Andrea Miranda Serna, Nanae Kawahara, Nanna Prierler, Percie Edgeler, Sachiko Oguri, Sadhna Prasad, Simone Ludeman, Sophie Corrigan, Stephanie Moulden, Sua Agape, Suzanne Carpenter, Suzie Scott, Tiffany Baxter
Production of the Book:
All the artwork has been submitted and okayed, and the book is almost entirely designed, with just a few pages and the front cover (by artist Josh Patterson) left to finalise. Once the campaign has finished I’ll be sending the book to print and everyone will receive copies before Christmas (unless you live a very long way away and your post is super slow). Alongside my other illustration books I am also selling a few rare back copies of early Amelia’s Magazine to help fund my new book.
Hooked on Colouring:
I’ve been fascinated by the colouring book phenomenon for some time now and I decided to start working on Amelia’s Colourful Colouring Companion earlier this year, despite being heavily pregnant. My second child was born in August and since then I’ve been working hard to make the book a reality. More recently I decided to give colouring a go in the interests of research and I’m now hooked on it myself… I trained as a printed textile designer and generally love to knit and crochet in my spare time so I didn’t think it would be my thing, but now I see what all the fuss is about! It’s surprisingly fun to just zone out and colour some interesting artwork by someone else. Here's a short article describing why colouring is akin to meditation. Now I just want to spread the word.
I asked the artists featured in Amelia’s Colourful Colouring Companion to colour in each other’s artwork and the results have been so fantastic that I’m already cooking up ideas for an exhibition. I hope the examples below will whet your own colouring appetites and cannot wait to see what you do with your pages.
What will the money be used for?
Basically it costs a lot to produce a book of this quality on a short run in the UK. Loads of dosh. So most of the money goes towards the production of the book. The cover artist is being paid a small amount for his work and the rest goes on postage and packaging (which really adds up). That’s all. The book will be limited edition so if any extra copies are produced they will be sold online and in a few select stores only.
Press: The book has been featured on Grafik Magazine, Creative Boom, Anorak Magazine, Bust, Colour with Claire, Brown Paper Bag and Made in Shoreditch. Read revealing interviews on The Early Hour, Motherland and Mumspo if you want to know about life as a single ‘mumpreneur’.
I’ve also written my first ever blog for the Huffington Post, titled 8 Things You Didn’t Know About Colouring Books For Adults. This is well worth a read if you want to know why colouring is so damn fantastic. It is aimed at people who are not sure what all the fuss is about and perhaps don’t think that colouring is for them, (like myself for instance, not long ago!)
Share the love!
To see more examples of artwork and for news updates please follow me on twitter and instagram. See what the artists are doing on the hashtag #ameliasccc and help to spread the word. The act of colouring is a creative collaboration and it is very enjoyable to see how different people approach the same artwork, so once you start colouring pages from the book please do share them using the same hashtag. The online colouring community is very social and I look forward to seeing you there.
Rewards:
Postcards: Receive 8 exclusive postcards produced to go with the book, featuring a mix of full colour images and black and white art to colour in yourself (if you fancy) from inside the book. If you don't care for colouring (and also if you do) then this is perfect! Beautiful artwork ready to send or keep for yourself.
Amelia’s Colourful Colouring Companion: I am keeping this campaign as simple as I can. For those of you who get in early there will be staggeringly cheap copies of the book available: just £12 a copy (when you consider what that price gets you from a commercial publisher then you’ll see what a bargain this is: it barely covers costs so I need to shift a lot). For those of you later to the campaign the book will be £16 a copy - still a total bargain. You can also buy the book in multiples: one for yourself and one, or maybe two, for a friend (did I mention that it’s the perfect Christmas gift?) Hence I have made sure the best deal goes to those Early Birds who buy 3 copies: just £30! That doesn't even cover costs of production, I must be mad! Each Early Bird book that is ordered comes with an exclusive set of postcards featuring artwork from the book, and all Early Bird buyers get their name in the book. There is also the option to get a free back issue: either 9 or 10, depending on your preference - a great way to get to know Amelia's Magazine and if you already have one then you can gift it to a friend. (You can let me know which you prefer in the Backer Survey)
NEW! A3 colouring print sets from East End Prints: Since my last Kickstarter campaign I have been working with Helen from East End Prints, collaborating on the sales of my limited edition 10th anniversary prints and contributing to her regular exhibitions and events. We got talking, and well, this is what happened… 6 lucky artists from the book have been chosen for a publishing deal and will receive royalties on all prints sold. East End Prints will produce special colouring print sets of their double pages: one full colour A3 print and one black line A3 print to colour in. These beautiful prints can be displayed on the wall alone or as a spectacular diptych of your making! The colouring print sets will be £19.95 RRP but we’re offering them at a special price of £15 prior to their premier at the London Illustration Fair in December. If you’d like to add a set of prints to your pledge for a colouring book then please just add the cost on top (plus postage) and let me know via a message. Choose your artist via the Backer Survey after the campaign has ended.
Illustration books and rare back issues: Spend a bit more and get one of my other illustration books, or a few super rare early back issues with your copy of Amelia’s Colourful Colouring Companion. Plus a set of postcards of course. Yes yes I know the back issues are expensive but I have very very few of them and they are highly collectible. They are aimed at those of you who want to complete your collection of Amelia’s Magazine and support the creation of this new book at the same time. Better than lining the pockets of a random ebay seller!
£1000 Benefactor Reward: A massive thank you for taking so much weight off my shoulders! Last campaign I included this reward because I was advised to do so, never expecting it to be taken up… but to my surprise it was! So here it is again: if you have pots of money and like what I do - supporting and promoting artists on a shoestring - then please do help me out. For you: the colouring book and an entire set of Amelia’s Magazines (including all early issues) plus all 3 of my other illustration books and the post cards. You're fabulous!
Thank you!
So, please buy the book: support the artists involved and grab a slice of the fantastic colouring phenomenon. If you like what you see please do share the campaign or make a pledge, it will make everyone involved super happy to see Amelia’s Colourful Colouring Companion in print! And I guarantee it will give any recipient hours of relaxing fun. Thank you.
Risks and challenges
I’ve done this before: last year I successfully made a book and fulfilled all my Kickstarter campaign rewards before Christmas, despite being in the early months of pregnancy and a full time mum (therefore knackered… and worried, given my previous experiences of miscarriage.) I have a lot of experience designing and producing magazines and books and a good relationship with my printers in Kent, with whom I have now been working for 11 years. This time around the book is far closer to completion. Despite having a 3 year old, a 12 week old (at the time of writing) and being a newly single mum I do not anticipate anything going wrong beyond the completely unforeseen: when I get an idea I am pretty unstoppable. I’ll be super tired and hopefully very happy by Christmas, so I look forward to your pledge!
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Funding period
- (21 days)