505: end of module evaluation

I really enjoyed being given the opportunity to write my own project but with it came a few hinderances. Mostly it seemed like a prime time to test what I’m interested in as a practitioner- not yet sending portfolios around but needing to establish what I want to do so I can get on to that soon.

I struggled with time management and planning, which isn’t usually something that gets me. I found it hard to come up with a solid idea so distracted myself by playing around stylistically and visually. This was valuable, but more time spent on the concept was really needed. 

The book was my main focus throughout the module and I don’t think that was necessarily a bad thing, or unlike how real publishing works. I am quite fond of what I have made, but to say I had spent so long playing around visually I’m disappointed with the illustrations as a collection. I was keen to go full colour and textural after the limitations of 504 but it made it hard to keep them consistent. I also wish I had made them looser, more energetic. I feel that many of them lack depth and detail, all things that I think would make more exciting images. That said, this project along with some of 503 has sparked a slight change of direction for me, and even though I’m not fully happy with these illustrations they are definitely getting closer to what I do want to achieve.

The text in Too Much is the most complex I’ve ever tried typographically. I also did it in a short space of time, so it’s not the most considered, but it’s made me think about thinking more about lettering/ type. I may not need the skill, maybe it would be given to someone else to do. But it’s a good skill to have, whether it’s to give input on a graphic designer’s work or to do it myself.

I feel like because I didn’t manage my time so well, because I prioritised other modules despite caring about this one on a personal level more, that the final book was quite a rushed job. I am interested in it as a concept, and would really like to remake it and refine it, with the intention of sending it to publishers, if not to have it as a portfolio piece / my own enjoyment. The writing is a little odd, and I think the pacing could be smoother. The idea is there and it’s something I care about, so would like to work on more. 

I think it would be really interesting to see what an actual child would make of this! I don’t know / have access to any children so haven’t been able to get their much valued feedback. I have been keen throughout to target it at children and not just the illustrated goods market, but at the same time taking heed from other illustrators keen to not be overcome by the idea of ‘child friendliness’ in picture books. I’m pleased with the tone of voice I got across in the book, I think it is subtle but hopefully also exciting, but really I won’t know what a child would think unless I asked them.

Making a range of illustrated products was quite a new concept for me and at times it felt like it could be quite over-commercialising. I don’t care if someone does plaster a character on any kind of merchandise, but it didn’t feel quite right for this project. I also wonder how much input the illustrator/ writer of a picture book has on the design of merchandise. Admittedly the range did come as quite an afterthought, mostly because I had literally forgotten about it due to my poor planning. I think I did well in creating a range of products that accompany the main title in a thoughtful way. I’m pleased with the idea of the note book but am not sure if I got the idea across in the right way. 

All in all I am feeling encouraged by this project and what I’ve seen from other practitioners that children’s illustration can be sophisticated and valuable to my own work. I’ve learnt about my own practice in terms of visual style, tone of voice and what contexts I would like to work in. I know what I would do if I reworked the book and do plan on refining it. This module has been the project that has felt most relevant to my own practice and I can see it having context outside of the university bounding.

505: project report

505: presentation boards

505: final range

I'm not sure if I went about the project the right way, having focus on one product and then fitting the others around it, but I suppose that is quite common in regards to picture books. I feel that I have done a good job of making a concise range that interacts and is relevant to the main title and is of interest to an audience of children/ adults buying for children. As mentioned before I was keen to make a range that was considered and with products that work with one another.

 The range is:

• The picture book / main title
• E-book: it is now common to  have digital versions of books now, and it's not uncommon for children to be using tablets in a  fun or educational way.
• Activity book:  a notebook for more child / parent engagement on rationalising experiences, but left quite open and can be used as they wish. Probably would be sold with the main title.
• Stickers: could be used as reinforcement for the activity book or just an accompaniment to the main title
• Clock: to be displayed in the child's bedroom/ somewhere in the home. This design could also be translated to a watch face. 
• Bookmark: to be used with the book, or other books. Aimed at children, but could be used by anyone who reads! This was the product in the range I was least sure about because I'm not sure how many children of the age reading Too Much would be reading books large enough for a bookmark.
• Prints: could be bought by adults for their own use or to be displayed in child's bedroom. Just prints of the illustrations without the accompanying text, which may make it more marketable to an adult audience, but would also lessen any confusion of out of context writing.

For the stickers, clock and bookmark I created simpler digital designs rather than paintings, as I was interested in how I could take those more complex images and make them suitable for processes that may require less colour information / detail/ things that are small so may not display detail so well. I am unsure of how successful this is though.

I feel that these are all relevant to the audience of child and parent.

I'm mostly pleased with the book, there is a lot I would have done differently particularly in regards to the image making but I am pleased with the idea and the making of a children's book with subtlety but hopefully enough excitement! I would like to see how a child would respond to this book. 

505: activity book design

My first idea for a second product in the range would be an accompanying note/activity book for a child to record their fears and rationalise their experiences in the same way as the book. This would probably be done with parent supervision as the target audience for the book is quite little and may well not know how to write. It would also be good to go through those processes with a parent anyway! This could potentially come as part of the book's package, as it might easily be ignored if sold separately. 

My first design was this, and whilst ok it felt a bit patronising. It seemed a bit too structured and instructive, as really this is for the child/ parent to interpret.

I edited it so there was a simple title to keep it relevant to the book but no instructive blurb. I transferred those words to a belly band which gives a hint to how it could be used but in the end it is to be used however it is.

505: megacrit feedback

This is the presentation board I showed alongside my book and sketchbooks in the crit. I am trying to be careful with my selection of applications for the book, making them relevant and interactive with one another. A wholesome range?

• generally positive feedback about the book, a few people commented on it being thoughtful and subtle which was what I had aimed for!
• proposals are good because they relate to the project in a thoughtful way, not just plastering it on to just anything.
• application ideas: plush, gifs/ animations, rucksack, lunchbox
• get some good photos of it, maybe in a display
• do the presentation boards!

505: printed book

If this was going to be a real book, I would expect it to be hardback and/or perfect bound. However, I don't really have the time or facilities for this right now so printed it out on nice quality paper and tried to do my best of putting it together for submission. I suppose this might be similar to what a publisher would make as a test print. I saw Jon Klassen post an image of what he described as a "turning dummy" of his latest picture book, so I see that this kind of printing process has some relevance to real practice.

I had some problems with printing as the usual print staff weren't there and there were problems with alignment, but they fixed it and printed it correctly for free. I used the power guillotine in the print room to get the best edges and then tried stapling a copy (which ended up lopsided) and sewed another copy (straighter, but made some slightly unsightly holes but looked better).

505: book design

When I started to piece the book together in InDesign I found that because the text segments were so short they started to look very empty on the page. I considered hand writing them but wasn't so sure that was the best way of going about it.

I looked around to other children's books that had used a similar layout of text one page image the next and was reminded of Paul Rand's picture books. His weren't strictly like this, but I was inspired by his use of movement within text whilst also keeping it simple.

Paul Rand

I'm by no means experienced with type but just went with my gut instincts! I tried not to make it too crazy because I'd know that I would mess it up, and tried to make the movements suits the atmosphere or imagery in the words. I considered putting shapes on there but did not wish to distract from the images.

Because of time constraints I decided to take an image from the inside and use it as the cover page with the title. Looking back I realise I should have possibly put my name on the front, but I think it suits the simplicity.

The final book layout:

505: final paintings

The final set of paintings I made for the book.

I struggled with the consistency as mentioned before. I had been excited to work with lots of colour and detail for this project but maybe should have limited myself to a smaller colour palette as it made it a little complicated to work around. I found I had a lot of black in some images so I tried to include it in all of them.

I regret not being more careful with my time management as I painted most of them over three days and found myself rushing and being careless towards the final paintings. If I had done more testing in advance I would have also done them quicker instead of painting half an image and then redoing it!