So I know it is hard to believe, but this is my first ever piece of fan mail 
Kids from Mount Claremont Primary coloured in the colouring in sheets from my website and sent them to me. How sweet 
Thanks Mt Claremont Primary
Welcome to the blog of traceygibbs.com, here you will find up-to-date ramblings and posts of a busy designer/illustrator working from Perth, WA. To see the formal folio of work and more links click here.
Blog Categories
DESIGN
FAQ
GENERAL
ILLUSTRATION
MEDIA / PRESS
SCHOOLS VISITS
My first fanmail | 05.11.10
Bhutan Heartland is launched | 14.10.10
One of my favourite books to have worked on has just been launched. Last night I was uncharacteristically late and missed the speeches and my accolades, the references to me being like a midwife delivering the author’s baby and everything. What I did get to see was a wine cellar in Fremantle full of friends and family of two amazing people. Libby and Robert are such generous spirits and have given me a very generous and GORGEOUS token of their appreciation for the work I did on their ‘baby’. Here is what I got
and in in situ, pride of place above my fireplace.
Thanks Libby and Robert. For anyone who would love to own the book- ask for it at your bookstore or order it from Fremantle Press. You can also read more about the project here and here.
Our World | 13.08.10
I was fortunate enough to be commissioned to put together a book about the community that lives at One Arm Point up north. It essentially features heaps of photos of kids, great artwork and lots of activities focussed around a modern-indigenous way of life. It is such a gorgeous little book. It has almost no white space which was a massive challenge for me. It also has very little resemblance of a grid system, my design rules were flung out the window with this one. As much as I would love to show you the internal spreads I have not got clearance from the parents of the children whose pictures they are, so you will have to settle for a cover and some of their gorgeous artwork. I love, love, love the simplicity of kids pictures. My favourite in the whole book was that blue emu- genius I say! Released in October- buy it here at Magabala Books. These guys have some awesome Aussie titles, great for teachers or for people sending souvenirs overseas. Take a look.
Artwork by the Children at One Arm Point Community School, the cover is below.
Hetty | 20.07.10
On the weekend just past (well on the Thursday before it) I started reading a book I have meant to read for a while now. It is not my usual process not to read the book before designing a jacket for it, but sometimes on a tight deadline it is just the way it has to be. I had the pleasure of spending the day with Hetty a few months ago and am amazed at how the human spirit enables us to recover or reassemble our lives after such hardship. Having been to Sachsenhausen and throughout Germany I know it can seem that the stories of World War Two are told much more often than the atrocities experienced by other peoples. That is perhaps a fair statement, BUT this story is incredible and I urge you all to read it, although take my advice, it does not cure insomnia, it is best read in broad daylight as most of the book will leave you teary and speechless. For those of you who have read Anne Frank this is indeed a similar viewpoint, but as it is told in retrospect you can be asurred of at least a somewhat happy ending as well as details on the daily life that was endured in concentration camps throughout Europe.
This is what the publisher’s at Fremantle Press had to say about the book Hetty;
-
This is one of the remarkable, largely untold, stories of the Holocaust, a story of hope. It is a heartwarming tale that traces the extraordinary struggle and survival of a family through those terrible years.
Hetty was just twelve years old in 1943 when her family was torn apart following the German invasion of the Netherlands.
Rounded up by the Nazis and then separated from their parents, Hetty and her brothers were sent to the Children’s House, within Belsen concentration camp. Hetty became the ‘Little Mother’ of the camp, helping to care for the other children.
The Australian said the adult version of this book was a “powerful and chilling account” of the holocaust. The Australian Book Review called it “profoundly moving” and an “uplifting story”.
Here is the jacket that I designed for Hetty. Below this you will find the process of creating this jacket
Click below to see the process.
BHUTAN HEARTLAND | 05.07.10
Today I am eagerly awaiting the postman as with him he should have my copy of what I hope is my favourite book I have ever designed. It is a “National Geographic” style coffee table book with THE most amazing photos of such a wonderful pocket of the world. The authors/photographers are ROBERT VAN KOESVELD & LIBBY LLOYD and the publisher is Fremantle Press. It is not released until October so you will have to pre order through Freo Press should you want a copy.
Here is the case and jacket artwork along with the logo I designed and the pattern that embellishes the endpapers.
I think my particular love for this project comes from the trust that authors/photographers and publishers gave me. I had pretty much free reign over the aesthetics, although perhaps what made it work is that we agreed how the book should look. It has a heavy focus on the people of Bhutan, working a lot like a photo documentary. There is enough text to feel as though you know the place but the bulk of the book really belongs to the 200ish photos that grace it’s pages. Wanna know the best bit?
K.Etherington Photography Brand | 29.06.10
So around the middle of last decade I met this girl Katie, who, fifteen years later turns out to be an awesome portrait photographer. Add a facebook connection and BAM! I am commissioned to design her new branding. Now of course payment was discussed but the more I looked at her beautiful portraits the more I wanted some for myself, so we have arranged a trade, which I never usually do. Myself, my Nan and my Mama will be having a girly day of glamming up in exchange for this new branding.
Katie’s brief was somewhat loose, she wanted “whimsical”. We had a few hits and a few misses in the design process but eventually came up with this, which I am very happy with.
Yallingup Accomodation Website | 17.05.10
Ok Ok, so it has been absolutely ages since I have posted anything. You see the thing is, I work in publishing which means two things. 1) some of my projects are secret- especially those that are works in progress and 2) even if they aren’t really secret I am still not allowed to release images of any design or illustration until the publisher does themselves. In the mean time though I have done a few projects that perhaps I can show. One is this one. It is a website for a client’s accomodation in beautiful Yallingup. Had I been smarter I would have negotiated a trade rather than payment as this house looks so amazing, especially in this snuggly red wine weather. Anyway check it out, I made and designed every bit of it (except the photos of course) http://yallingupaccommodationhouse.com.au/
Southern Gazette article | 08.03.10
Hi there, so it has been a while. I recently aquired a puppy, a chocolate lab called Graham. He is both lovely and naughty- he is currently chewing my toes. He has been quite a distraction but here is a post for you. An article in the Southern Gazette last Tuesday It is talking about my presentations at the All Saints Lit Fest next week.
March for Melanoma | 03.02.10
I have been helping out a friend recently who has set up a charity raising awareness about melanoma and giving support to those with the disease. He is only 26 but is accomplishing great things with his life and his foundation. In March MelanomaWA is holding a fundraiser- March for Melanoma. These are the posters I have donated the design of. The campaign will spread across t-shirts, hats, banners, brochures and of course posters. For more information on this march or to enrol to participate go to their website at www.melanomawa.org.au.
The Premier’s Summer Reading Challenge. | 27.01.10
Last week I had the good fortune of being invited to three libraries across the state to talk to children and their parents about illustration. I visited Warnbro, Cambridge and Port Hedland Libraries and the days were all fabulous. Port Hedland was particularly excited as it involed air travel and a part of the country I had never visited. Here is an excerpt and some photos from that visit.
By Michelle Hammond of the North West Telegraph
WA BOOK illustrator Tracey Gibbs shared her passion with local children and parents at South Hedland Library last Friday. Gibbs’ illustrations have appeared in publications for the WA State Library and Fremantle Press, including Let’s Go Baby and Spider Lies. She recently collaborated with Tom Baddeley on a book of ballads for children titled Aussie Legends. Her visit was part of the Premier’s Summer Reading Challenge, which finishes on February 8. The challenge is part of an annual program delivered through a partnership between the Department of Education, the State Library of Students from kindergarten to Year 3 were asked to read for 10 hours during the holidays -less than 10 minutes a day – and students in Years 4 to 7 as well as parents were challenged to read for 15 hours.
