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1. Graphic Narrative
Evaluation

2. Does your final product reflect your
original intentions?
My final product does reflect my original intentions and plans,
however some changes were needed to be made to make the
book more successful. The size of my book remained the same
size as in my proposal however the number of pages changed. I
intended to make 10 pages and resulted in making 9. This was
because I realised I could merge two pages together so it would
make more sense to the young children. Thankfully my actual
story plot stayed the same and no drastic changes the were
made so the story was completely changed. The “production
methods” in my book stated I was going to use the rotoscope
tool to create different aspects of my book. I did use the
rotoscope tool in my book but I did not depend on it like I
thought I would.

3. My proposal also stated I was going to use practical collage like
the book “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” and scan into the
computer to give my book originality. I did not follow through
with this idea as I found I liked the paisley pattern background
technique very successful, however I could have experimented
with the idea of collage to show development through my
project which is what I would do if I were to do this project
again. Finally in my proposal I said I was going to make my book
look “less realistic and more on the fantasy side so children can
get more thrill out of reading it” which is exactly how my book
turned out. I feel I have stuck very close to my proposal which in
ways is good as I have proven I can produce a book that fits all of
my goals, however it also shows I have not shown evidence of
dramatic development.

4. How well have you constructed your
images?
I feel like the overall construction of my images are successful in
the sense that it is clear to understand what is going on. My
images are consistent throughout my book and each page has
the same quality and style characters and locations along with
extra accessories to bring the page together. However I feel
some of my pages are too busy. They perhaps consist of too
many mushrooms and flowers and trees in the background and
can detract from the main characters in the foreground which
can be a problem when younger children/toddlers are trying to
understand the story if they cannot read. The style of my book is
quite different to others as I decided I wanted to use paisley
patterns and use a clipping mask tool to create the backgrounds

5. to everything in the backgrounds, this included the grass, the
trees and the flowers. This was to give my book a unique and
individual style and I think it worked successfully. However I feel I
could have gone further and used the paisley pattern style on
the characters instead of using just the gradient overlay tool
alone. My characters could have been more complex.
These are the two original designs for my
caterpillars. As you can see the two
drastically different colours make the two
characters look very different, however
the shape designs for each are exactly
the same. The only differences are the
colour of the bodies, the eye colour and
the shape of the mouth. I could have
made my protagonist (the grey
caterpillar) more complex by changing
the shape of his head etc. This is
something I would definitely change if I
were to do this project again.

6. How well have you used text to anchor
your images
In my book I feel that I have used my text to anchor my images
well but on a select few pages it could have been done better.
Overall my text and images are easy to follow together, however
on certain pages I have told part of the story in my text but
haven’t been able to show this through the images without
having to add another page. For example on page 4 of my book
the text says how “all the other caterpillars laughed at him
hysterically” yet in my page the other caterpillars are not seen.
This is because I wanted to use a close up of the grey caterpillar
to contrast the different shots and angles of the characters in my
book instead of using continuous long shots. Also on page 5 I
encountered a another problem. It says on page 5 “This made

7. the grey caterpillar smile” however in this page we see the grey
caterpillar is sad as this is after he has been laughed at. I could
not include two expressions from the same character on one
page and two pages in the same location with the same
characters would be inconsistent and boring. Therefore I decided
to choose one expression on one page so the book and story
flowed smoother for the readers. Looking at the books by ‘Julia
Donaldson’ I can see she has anchored her text to her images.
Each image is relevant and clearly linking to the text and both
images and text separately can tell the story on every page.

8. Is your product suitable for your
audience?
In my proposal I stated that my children’s book is to be aimed at
male and female children between the ages of 3 – 6 years. I feel
my book is very suitable for children of these ages as the pictures
are colourful and easy to understand and the text is easy to read.
The only thing about my book that is different to what my goal
for my proposal was is the not having much text. Even though
the images in my book overpower the text there is still several
long sentences on some pages which can be a lot to handle for
children starting to learn how to read. However, overall I think
my book has successfully reached the criteria of my target
audience and would be a book that children would both enjoy
and learn from. “Dr. Seuss’s ABC” is an educational

9. children’s book that is for ages 3+. This is similar to the target
audience age of my book. Dr. Seuss has shown dramatic and bold
colour and interesting and fun characters to appeal to the very
young children who are 3 years of age. Even though my book is
not the same style as Dr. Seuss they are similar in how they both
are successful for their age range.
I really like Seuss’s use of black and white
characters and coloured background and
letters. This is similar to my character and how
he is black and white to make him different.
Dr. Seuss has unique background and
character style which makes his books
something that inspired me to make a more
unique looking styled book.

10. My book consists of a font that is very easily readable and that is
simple for beginner readers to follow. Having a readable font in a
children’s book is one of the most important factors as it can
throw children off and cause they difficulty when reading it.
This first black bordered
image is a screenshot from
my book. The font is easily
readable and it is an
appropriate colour so it
does not fade into the
background. The bottom
three photos are examples
of fonts from children’s
books. They are all simple
and basic fonts in a simple
format and are all easy
enough to read for a young
child.

11. What do you like/dislike about the
techniques you have used?
I didn’t use a wide range of techniques. I mainly used clipping
mask, shape warping and rotoscoping. On top of these
techniques I used a lot of texturizing and using colour and
gradient overlay for more effect.
These two illustrations have aspects to them which
are similar to my book. The main aspect being the
patterns. Some of the background such as the sky
on the first image and the tree on the second image
are both made of different type of patterns. This is
the technique I used throughout my book to create
my certain style.

12. I am very pleased with how my book result came out with the
techniques I used, however there are techniques I did not like
using and how they made things look on my book pages. For
example I dislike the blue brush strokes on the grey caterpillar on
page 3. My idea for the brush strokes was I wanted them to be
fainter and a lot more faded with a gradient. I feel the brush
strokes look very harsh and bold which is not how I wanted them
to look, however I feel the effect is put across the same way and
it is still clear to the reader what is going on.
The last few pages consist of butterflies which I used the pen
tool to create. I was pleased with using the pen tool as it allowed
me to create the shapes that I wanted and allowed me to dictate
how detailed the butterflies were. I created the rainbow
butterfly (the grey caterpillar) with more detail than the blue
butterflies as I wanted to give the rainbow butterfly more power
and pride over the others.

13. What do you like/dislike about how
your final product looks?
I feel my final product is consistent with characters, location and
other details such as flowers, mushrooms, trees and insects.
Each page has very similar or the same backgrounds and details,
only the characters change positions and expressions. The thing
that makes my book individual is the style of the backgrounds
and details. Each and everything involving the background is
created with paisley patterns to create a more surreal effect.
These patterns also make the book more interesting to look at to
children who cannot read so rely on the images to tell the story.
This is what I like about my final product. I dislike how I have
portrayed the sky on my pages. I simply used a gradient to create
sight depth however I wish I had thought of a more

14. creative/ imaginative background for the sky as it is just as
important as the grass as it takes up almost half of the
background space. However I still feel the sky has an effect and
works well with the other details on my background.
Here are two page examples from my book where I have used two different
gradient effects to create different situations in the sky. The first page I used
colours and a gradient overlay to make the location look sunny and bright. The
second I have used grey and black tones with a gradient overlay to give a wet
and cold effect. Also using a blurred paint brush and dark grey to create clouds
gives it more of a dark and dull effect.

15. Why did you include the content you
used?
The content of my book included colourful backgrounds,
characters and details such as flowers and mushrooms. The style
of my book is the things that makes my final product original.
The content of my background consists of shapes of different
colours created with paisley patterns. The majority of my
background is created with paisley patterns therefore it becomes
the most noticeable factor of my book. I used paisley patterns to
create so much in my book because I feel that is gave my book a
more unrealistic and fantasy effect which would attract the eye
of the young children. Even though the main character of my
book is grey, I tried to use many different bold and striking
colours throughout my book. A lot of these colours

16. are drawn from the flowers and mushrooms in the background. I
used such vibrant colours for these two details because my book
is set all in one place, therefore the background setting and
colour scheme is quite repetitive. I wanted to give some depth to
the background so each page didn’t consist of only green hills.
Here is a page from the book “Look!
There’s Elmer” by David McKee. The
colourful patched elephant also known as
‘Elmer’ has a theme of patterns and vibrant
colours in his books. In this page we can
see there are many different colours and
patterns explored. This idea of different
patterns and textures links and relates to
my book as this idea is very much what the
book depends on to make it unique. The
ideal age range for the Elmer books are 5+.
This is an age similar to my book which
infers the similarities between this book
and my own is good.

17. What signs, symbols or codes have
your used in your work?
When it comes to colour my colour scheme was not specific. I tried to
use all kinds of colours to make my book interesting for children to
look at. I use simple colours for main background (green, brown, blue
etc.) however I used more dramatic colours for the additional details
such as the flowers, mushroom and even the small bugs. The style of
my book is very original. I tried to make my book stand out from the
rest by using paisley patterns to create the backgrounds which gives
my book an unrealistic fantasy effect which will be more exciting for
the children. My book is set in an unrealistic location, because my
book is a anti-realist narrative I decided to create a make believe
meadow full of colourful talking bugs. This decision was made based
on the caterpillars being able to talk which is unrealistic. The design of
my characters is very simple.

18. They are created using simple shapes such as circles and
rectangles and are warped and reshaped using an additional
gradient overlay to create a depth. The butterflies are created
with the pen tool to form unique shapes and patterns for the
wings. My book puts forward the idea of using simplicity to
create uniqueness and originality for the children to enjoy and
learn from. On one of my pages I featured bad weather. When
the grey caterpillars plan to pretend being blue fails, the rain
washes away the stain from the bon bon leaf. This rain could be
interpreted as pathetic fallacy as he is sad and the weather
represents this.
My book does not consist of many symbols. The only main sign
or symbol is the bright colours which can represent the warmth
and happiness of the meadow.

19. This is one of the caterpillars from my book.
This is an example of how my design is simple
yet effective. I chose to use the colour blue
because it is bold and noticeable. Also I
avoided using the colour blue for anything
apart from the sky in this book so the
characters would stand out on the page. If I
were to do this book again I would change my
characters by moving the eclipses to different
positions to show the character moving in
different ways. This would make the book
more interesting.
This is a screenshot of part of my front cover
and these are a few of the insects that are
hidden on each page of my book for the
children to find. These characters are created
very similarly to the caterpillars however
different shapes and colours are used. In some
occasions different tools are used such as the
opacity tool and the paintbrush tool.

20. What representations can be found in
your work?
My book does not show representation of men and women or
religion etc. however my main character is a different colour to
the other characters. This can be interpreted in different ways,
one way could be linking this to the representation of race. He is
shown to be bullied and looked down on because of what colour
he is. My book shows his different colour to be good and how he
is equal to all other caterpillars. If looking at this as a
representation of race and ethnicity then my book looks
positively on this because the outcome shows how good being
different to everybody else.
The main representation in my book I am putting forward the
idea of equality. How no matter how different one person is to
the other, everyone should be treated the same.

21. What style have you employed in your
products?
My book has a unique style. As I have stated earlier in my
evaluation I have used paisley patterns to create my background
setting and details such as the flowers and the mushrooms. I use
different patterns for each different area of my background and I
used a background for the tree. Once I had lay down the
patterns I went over certain things on the page and added in a
texture. I chose to add in certain textures because I wanted to
give the pages depth. The textures compliment the pattern
styles well and work together to add hints of realism to a book
that is extremely unrealistic as it includes talking animals and a
make believe meadow.

22. The patterns above are the three main patterns I used in my book.
Number ‘1’ is the pattern I used for the leaves that where occasionally on
the ground around my characters, number ‘2’ is the pattern I used for the
tree and number ‘3’ is the pattern I used for the grass. These three
patterns are very important when it comes to my book, especially ‘2’ and
‘3’ as they were seen in every page. I feel I chose effective paisley patterns
for this children’s book project as each pattern is different and fits each
aspect well yet they all fit together in the same style.
1 2 3

23. What were the strengths and weaknesses
of the pre-production and planning
My pre-production had its strengths and weaknesses. There were
areas in my initial techniques that were not so successful. My shape
task wasn’t very successful when I created a fox. I struggled with the
shapes and textures of this animal so decided to create a panda which
resulted in being more successful. I got the gradients and shapes
accurate and managed to add an additional background for a more
realistic effect.
The planning and research stage of my pre-production were successful.
For planning I produced a detailed mind map on my initial story idea
talking about what I wanted in my book and what I wanted my book to
look like. For my research I created a mood board consisting of
relevant images towards my book such as ideas for background,
characters and even font types. However I feel I could have extended
my mood board with a broader range of images giving examples of
things I could have experimented with. This was one of my
weaknesses.

24. I think I handled my time appropriately. For pre-production I
made sure I had enough time to thoroughly explore ideas for my
book and collect examples to create an in depth plan. I also
made sure I created mostly two examples of each technique for
my initial techniques to make myself aware of what I am better
at and what would work for my particular book.
When it came to the actual production I made sure I stuck to my
production plan. I managed to get one page done in each session
adding all of the details etc. to completely finish each one off.
When it got to session 10 I had finished all of my pages therefore
I had time to create a front cover and back cover for my book.

25. This is one of my strengths of my
planning/pre-production. This is a
detailed mind map about the plan of my
book about what my book is based on,
where my book is set, what type of font
my book will have and what my
background and characters will look like.
The only thing I am lacking in this mind
map is “who” my book is for. I have no
reference about target audience until my
proposal.
The mood board is what I would say is
one of my weaknesses of the
planning/pre-production as I could have
had more images of things I hadn’t
thought about trying but maybe could
experiment with. However I have
consisted this mood board with images of
almost all things I need to consider;
colour schemes, backgrounds, locations,
character design/style, font and different
paisley patterns.

26. Historical and cultural context
My story is based on the original fairy-tale “The Ugly Duckling”. The
ugly duckling is seen as ugly because he isn't the same as his brothers
and sisters and this makes him sad. However he grows up to become a
beautiful swan. I took this story and twisted it into a caterpillar and
made the protagonist a different colour to the others. In the end he
becomes a colourful butterfly. I wanted to put across the message of
being unique and different is beautiful.
A similar book to mine is “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”. This is because
the entire story is based on a caterpillar and in the end the protagonist
transforms into a butterfly which is very similar to my story.
I do not know of many book about caterpillars which is why I chose to
create “The Grey Caterpillar”, however with a small amount of
research I found the two books “The Crunching Munching Caterpillar”
and “Percival the Plain Little Caterpillar”. These two books are shown
as being popular caterpillar children’s books.

27. The Crunching Munching Caterpillar
A twist on an old story as Caterpillar
longs to fly but can't as he doesn't have
wings. When he meets a butterfly she
smiles a secret smile, for she knows it
won't be long before Caterpillar is able
to flutter away.
• This book is very similar to mine as it
is about a doubting caterpillar who
transforms into a butterfly at the end
of the story. However my book is
different to this story as my
protagonist is upset with the colour
of his body not the fact he doesn’t
have wings.
The Caterpillar that Roared
Hugo the caterpillar wants to be a lion,
but he must learn to balance his dreams
with being happy with who he is, in a
funny and reassuring tale about growing
up.
• This book puts across the same
message as my book which is to
always be comfortable with who you
are and that being different is a good
thing. This book consists of a
caterpillar wanting to be something
he isn’t which links with my book and
how the grey caterpillar wants to be
blue.

28. There is other similar existing material/ children’s books such as the
Elmer books, which I briefly spoke about earlier on the evaluation,
which use extreme colours and patterns to form the characters. The
Elmer book style inspired me to use interesting patterns to create an
unrealistic style to my book.
Above are examples of different characters in the Elmer series. The
characters consist of different bold colours and exotic patterns to make
each one individual. What I like about the Elmer books is every
character is different which is something I wanted to experiment with
in my project. I ended up creating characters that looked quite similar,
even though they look effective I could have experimented with mixing
up the designs of the characters to make them more interesting.