#lamh

- The only native snake species to Monster High’s ecosystem is a giant swamp viper but they’re 40 feet long “and tend to bite your head off if you get too close”

-  Monster High was built in 1071 to be a safe place for all monsters to be their true selves.

- Frankie’s brain is made up of parts from Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, Plato, Elizabeth Feinler, and Alan Turing. Their heart is from a fisherman named Earl. Their spleen is from Shakespeare. Their thigh is from their uncle, Phil Hermiton. Their hand is from Frida Kahlo.

- There was a war in 1320, dubbed “The Great War,” which was significant enough to be studied in Monster History Class. 

- There is a book called A Tale of Two Coffins, an allusion to the Charles Dickens book, A Tale of Two Cities. 

- Vampires have been at war with witches for centuries.

- The Monster High mascot is the Demons. 

- There were many centuries of conflict between dragons and monsters prior to 1375, when the Dragon Treaty of 1375 was created. Causes of conflict between dragons and other monsters: language barriers & no means of communication with remote dragon groups, food scarcity during the middle ages, expansion of human territories forcing dragons to leave their hunting grounds, differing hierarchal systems.

- Dracula, Selena Wolf (Clawdeen’s mom), and Eddy Hyde were all apparently friends prior to Hyde’s half-human heritage being revealed. 

- There are nocturnal students who attend night classes at Monster High. 

- Zombies (or, at least, Ghoulia) sleep in graveyards, in graves.

- There are students/monsters who eat limbs, like the ones taken from the Monster Biology lab. 

- The school is alive. It can respond to questions about where places are, create warnings on the walls made of blood, and decorate dorm rooms for students. 

- There are monster-specific snacks, available in the vending machine at Monster High. These include: Stein’s root beer (mascot is a caricature of Victor Frankenstein’s monster, aka Frankie’s dad. The tagline is “It’s electric!” and apparently it is “chunky and delicious,” according to the advertisement), Sour Boos, Sour Gnomes, Ghostitos potato chips (available in both Swamp Water and Brain (?) flavors), Banshee Bites, Stuffed Newt Eyeballs, Full Moon Pie, and Choco-claws.

- Hyde kept meticulous lab journals, all written in code and marked by his signature “clasped hands”. 

- In her mortal life, Cleo studied with Heka, god of magic and medicine, and can recognize an incantation that’s in front of her. 

- Terrifying Trigonometry is the name of one of the school textbooks and, presumably, the name of one of the classes.  

Riso Zine inspiration

After looking at some Riso zines on the internet for ideas for my lamh zine , I came across this , it was a project , a group of women came together in paper rhinos studio and created Riso zines. What caught my eye is the structure of the front page .

The font is strong and pronounced. The word ‘gaze’ is sort of deconstructed, but clearly recognisable , the pink circle brings the focus to the centre of the page while connecting the text below , bringing the whole page into harmony.

I like the layering of the triangles adds dimension. They leave room for a border which I find looks neater , focusing the image and I like the look of the simplistic shapes of leaves and foxes , but I am more focused on the typography -and lay out of their work.

I think I will keep my illustrations in a similar style to my icons , keeping a sense of realism but abstract, I think that works for me more so that a cartoon style.

Monster High

Ms. Clawdeen Wolf Hand-Delivered via Gargoyle 

Dear Ms. Wolf: 

Congratulations! We welcome you as a legacy admission to the fall Monster High freshman class. 

You’ve been given this opportunity in recognition of your impressive academic scholarship and esteemed family pedigree both of which reflect the monster values we admire in our students. 

We are excited to see you soon when the semester begins. 

With terror and excitement, 

Nora Bloodgood

Nora Bloodgood