Color in your love together…

Create A Romantic Coloring Book

Valentine’s Day is far behind us, but that shouldn’t stop you from considering the romantic possibilities for next year’s gift. Whether you’d like to present a sweet gesture to someone,  recount the beginnings of a lovely relationship, or test it out for a fun activity, create this fun coloring book in 10 easy steps.

What You Need

• Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator (Illustrator highly recommended)
• Adobe Indesign
• Pen tablet (design facilitator)
• Printing Services (In this case, Staples)

Step 1. Plan It Out (duh!)

Like with any design, plan the project out to better understand how to go about it. Create some rough storyboard sketches of each scene; in this case I’ll be making 13, 12 coloring pages + the book cover. The sketches should quickly illustrate the general composition of each scene.

Step 2. Research Coloring Book References

Research the different styles of coloring books using your favorite search engine. Note differences in cover designs, text placements, character design, and line drawing composition. The more fun you are with the design, the better the design will come across.

Step 3. Write Out The Storyline

Also use this time to think of some nifty sentences for each scene, they should tell the storyline effectively in concise words. Writing out the storyline will assist you during the design process by helping you to embody your words in the design. Whether or not you decide to make it rhyme like a poem is your choice, either way, sometimes the words can be the best part of the gift.

Step 4. Gather Photo References

Making the subjects of your design as close to what they really look like is another nice touch. Gather photo references that you can use to trace over in Photoshop. Some great ideas for photo references include pictures of you and your loved one, or anything pertaining to your storyline (an important event, memory, etc).

Step 5. Compose Line Drawings In Photoshop or Illustrator

Since I was on a time crunch, I initially composed my coloring book project in Photoshop, however, I would highly suggest that you compose it in Illustrator to retain better line quality. Open a new document the size of a piece of paper (8.5 x 11 inches) and begin to trace your photo references using the pen tool. It’s best to try to avoid filling in too many of the lines, but sometimes it’s necessary to illustrate certain details like facial hair and eyes for aesthetic appeal.

Step 6. Coloring The Cover

One of your line drawings will be the cover of the coloring book, so be sure to color it in for added style and flair. I colored the cover in by using the Photoshop brushes at full opacity, however, I think another great style would’ve been to give it a more sketchy look, by using a more painted approach. Color the cover like a vector graphic using the pen tool in PS or Illustrator, or you could even wait til it’s printed to color it yourself with crayons.

Step 7. Finalize in Adobe InDesign

Import or copy your project into Adobe InDesign to finalize it. Design all the pages of the coloring book in one project file in order to make each page look the same.  This is also when you will add the text to retain design and printing clarity. Be sure to keep some space open on the left side of each page so that the design doesn’t interfere with binding in future steps. Export your coloring book project as an Adobe PDF file to share easily with your printer.

Step 8. Printing and Binding

Once your design is done, bring the copy of your project in Adobe PDF format to your local printer. I used the local Staples Copy and Print Center for fast and inexpensive printing. You can also opt for a clear cover, hard back, and coil binding–these extra options are cheap and well worth the finishing detail. Printing + binding = less than 5 bucks at Staples and took less than 20 minutes to complete the order.

Step 9. Adding To The Gift: Colored Pencils and Crayons

Make sure this gift is something that is used by including a pack of colored pencils and/or crayons. They may not want to ruin the book by coloring in the pages, but I suggest that you use it as a fun bonding experience.

Step 10. Gift Wrap The Coloring Book

Like with any special gift you give, you can gift wrap it to finish the surprise. You can find inexpensive gift wrapping supplies at specialty stores or even local dollar stores. Place your coloring book in a gift box that can fit the book as well as the pack of colored pencils and any additional gifts you plan to give. In the picture above, you’ll notice that I also included a chocolate bar with a fun million dollar package design.

Enjoy Your Inexpensive Gift Giving!

Perhaps it’s just the artist in me, but I always feel like there is so much more meaning in a gift I can create. This gift took me a week to plan, two and a half days to execute, and less than 20 dollars to finish. This really is a gift I recently gave to a loved one who often colors to de-stress.

Download My Coloring Book Gift: “Melody and George Fall In Love”

Click To Download: George and Melody Fall In Love, Coloring Book. Feel free to look at my coloring book for additional ideas, and as always…

Keep It Sexy Sugas…