Digital graphics evaluation- Libby Wright

1. Graphic Narrative
Evaluation

2. Does your final product reflect your
original intentions?
My final product doesn’t necessarily reflect my first original intentions in their true
form. I wanted to create more characters, a mix of humans and animals throughout
the book to allow readers to slightly connect with them. I did however reflect the aims
I originally set out for my book by the focus of lyrically similar words linking together,
allowing children to understand the rhyming patterns.
The style I ended up with in my final product was not what I originally intended from
the very beginning but through the use of my research and mood boards developed
over time to create something different and unusual in comparison to most children's
books. This development can be seen in the multiple drafts, planning and mood
boards I created, where I looked more into the textured styles. The later intention
however of having a more defined and individual style of using textured patterns to
create different animals and also using shading on animal body parts to give them a
dimensional look. From the start however I always wanted to create abstract images
with a different looking style, rather than a typical cartoon style, that most children’s
books in book shops have.

3. This is my final production page and I
changed and adapted certain parts to
improve the overall look my book has. I
changed the way my house looked and
changed my page placement to allow me
more space to spread my animals out.
Although I adapted my house I still kept the
use of patterns throughout. It can also be
seen that the paths for the language to
follow are also seen in the final production.
This is my original test page I created
from the start I planned to have the
words following the animals round
linking the text to the images
surrounding them. The pace is simple
and crammed and due to the quantity
of the font featured on the page it is
hard to read.

4. How well have you constructed your
images?
Overall I constructed my images effectively to convey the message and the style I
wanted to, in my work. The continuous use of texture and vibrant colours throughout
my book is something that is fully appealing to my target audience, they can look at
the images and relate them to the words. This can be seen in the image I created of a
cockerel the vibrant colours used across the body of the animal is captivating and gives
the readers a very visual experience as they read the book.
This is one of my images I created that features in my
book, the uses of greens to separate the two parts of
the body is effective and gives the cockerel a more
dynamic three dimensional look. The contrast in the
yellow and orange parts of the body gives the effect of
feathers and this is complimented by the scratched like
effect the pattern holds.

5. All of the animals I have created realistically represent their true form, making
it easier for the audience to quickly distinguish what animal they are. All the
animals I created represent their true form, this can be seen through the use
of colour, I made sure all the animals had a true to form colour, one that
would be seen on the actual animal, I made this more interesting however by
adding patterns and textures to the animals. The use of rotoscoping helped
me do this, by following the physical outline of the animals body, giving them
an overall prominent accurate outline for me to work with and adapt.
These are two animals I created
by using the rotoscoping. It
allowed me to easily convey
what the animal was and was
easy for me to work with to
overlay patterns on top.
The construction of these animals is something
that can be compared to Eric Carle’s work, I took
inspiration from his style to create my images
and this can be seen when comparing the two of
them. The image on the left is the butterfly
created by Eric Carle for his book ‘The Very
Hungry Caterpillar’

6. How well have you used text to anchor
your images
I effectively used text to convey the events on the page and used the text throughout
to aid the visual pictures on each page. I tried to make my book as visual as possible
and use the words as only a backing to emphasise my points, I did this by making my
main image the most prominent feature and placing the words around it, to give the
readers a more visual experience rather than an aural experience, which is what most
children's books provide due to their parents reading the book with them, this allows
them to associate a picture with a word giving them a higher and more knowledgeable
understanding behind a word and thing associated with it. Although, the text of my
book is important due to my target audience being placed in a school setting and the
story being used for an educational purpose. On each page throughout my book the
words featured fully match the pictures placed below, causing no confusion to the
readers when following the story, the pictures and text used match up efficiently. The
font I chose to use is an easy to read font due to the young readers of the book
although it is aimed to be read by teachers, using a clear font, that has correct
grammar and punctuation mean that early and readers of a lower ability can read it
to, this is because it allows each word to be clearly read by the children.

7. The image on the left features the text
flowing in between the dog and the tree and
although the image does not blatantly show
the dog worrying the cat at that current
moment the connotation of the event
happening is clear to see and as a result the
cat is running up the tree.
The image on the right has the text
following the series of affairs each time
linking to the animal placed near the
text. It also takes the readers on a
journey with the story following each
part before meeting the house where
the story end.

8. Is your product suitable for your
audience?
My product is very suitable for my chosen audience due to the specific language used
and the patterns the words have implied on them. The use of commonly known
animals I chose to feature in my book is something children will recognise and fully
understand, rather than them being abstract animals that are not widely known. The
story is still suitable for both male and female readers due to there being no implied
gender on any animal in the story, there is no character for them to identify with other
than Jack who is mentioned throughout the book but is never shown at all through
the story, therefore is not able to be judged by any of the children or makes it stand
out to one or the other gender more. The story has nothing that needs to be censored
in it or anything that may cause offence, harm or disruption to any of the readers,
therefore still being able to be shown and read to an audience of all ages, especially in
a school environment. Aiming my book at teachers and schools rather than parents
reading with their children allows the use of phonic focusing and rhyming patterns to
hold the highest point and most important to the audience. It would also practically
reflect what the teachers would be showing to their class.

9. having teachers as my primary audience fully allows me to target my book at all
social classes due to the variety of social classes there is in most primary school
classrooms, it also consequently gives a wide range of children, of all reading
abilities the chance to read the book created and get the same opportunity to
learn from it.

10. What do you like/dislike about the
techniques you have used?
The techniques I used through my book give it a defined style, making it different to
most, I therefore like my use of the clipping mask tool for this reason. It allowed me to
add any texture or pattern, I required or needed over each section of my animals
giving them their own defined characteristics through this. It also allowed me to
create different sections to my animals, bringing the image off the page and making it
look more dimensional than a standard block colour image would allow. An example
of this is the dog I created which is featured below, the grey toned sketch marks of a
pencil scribbling on paper gave the dog a scruffy un-pure look, making it more realistic
than a pure white and pristine look. The darker shading which is also used on the back
legs give the impression that they are under his body and that’s why they are shaded
darker. The clipping tool also allowed me to add texture and pattern to any animal I
created, giving them all different and independent styles and
characteristics.

11. I also like the use of colour I used in my animals it gives them an uplifting
and bright look, this is most visible on the cockerel, the uses of bright
oranges, greens and yellows creates a vibrant effect for the animal.
One thing I did not like about the technique I used was how limited it left
me, I was unable to include humans in my piece due to the textured
patterns looking out of place on a human figure. I also doing this struggled
to create well presented back grounds, giving my book a loss of placement
and looking relatively plane.
This is one of my more developed versions of the
character Jack, although this is not a bad image it
did not fully fit with the style I had chosen to go
with and looked out of place when I decided to put
him on the page.

12. I liked my use of rotoscoping, although this technique can sometimes
prove very time consuming and did require a lot of patience and time
to complete, slowing the whole production process down, it allowed
me to create the most realistic and representable looking animal,
making sure that with a pattern overlaid the true form of the animal
would still be identifiable and recognizable by children of a young age,
I chose to use this technique over others because of this reason.

13. What do you like/dislike about how
your final product looks?
In my final product I liked the overall creative style and abstract type of work I have
conveyed. Using a mix of patterns and textures to show dimensions and shading of
body parts. This is most recognisable on the dog I created the use of darker toned
greys to show the distanced body parts and darker parts of the dogs body. I also like
the fluidity of the text I used and how on each page it fits with the images on them.
The creative swirling of the text on the final page is still readable but follows each
animal taking the reader on a journey with the text before arriving at Jack’s house,
another page where I like my use of text is on page five, the text fits nicely between
the tree and dog and flow down among the two images.
One thing I dislike about my final product is the simplistic style. Most of my pages
created feature little or no background or scenery within them; this may be due to the
style I chose to use and the complexity of each pattern and doing a busy background
can cause the pictures to clash. If I was able to have a longer period of time to create
this in the future I would have fully planned out how I would mindfully plan my pages
and what each of them would contain and the placement and balance of patterns to
give an overall more professional looking product. However having said that I like the
texture I put into the tree because although it does not necessarily look like

14. a ‘realistic’ tree, it is still able to be identified as a tree by all ages. The mix of
textures used on the leaves gives it a different style and a more abstract dynamic,
making it more visually captivating giving a higher sensory experience to younger
readers.
Another thing I dislike about my final product is the lack of humans in my piece. I
made a decision early on to only use animals in my piece, this was influenced by
Eric Carle’s work and his ability to only use animals and create a character
throughout them and tell a story through them. The story I chose also has a lack of
characterization and therefore made the narrative a lot harder to put across to the
audience. So to improve this I would adapt the chosen rhyme to give it a more
prominent storyline to be read and followed by the audience.

15. Why did you include the content you
used?
I included all the content used in my book to effectively convey the story I adapted to
the audience this was enhanced by the images, font and colours I used.
Using an easy to read, clear font, keeping the same font for all the pages fit entirely
with the purpose of my book, which is for it to be used in schools and classrooms to
be read to younger children to aid their understanding of rhyming patterns and help
the learning process of phonics. The choice of this font allows the children in the
classes to follow along with the teacher to the story. It is also clear enough for them to
read on their own without any confounding variables being added to the situation.
The use of bright colours and textured effects placed on the animals is highly
beneficial to children in schools and classes who may have learning difficulties and
therefore may struggle to understand the words and follow along with the story, but
the vivid colours and shapes allow them to view it as a whole and use the shapes to
define the animals and visualise the story whilst linking it to the words being said.

16. What signs, symbols or codes have
your used in your work?
My work has a very subtle use of signs and symbols to be read into, through the use of
abstract and unrealistic patterns it symbolises the unrealistic nature of folk and fairy
tales, not necessarily of my own but of many other popular stories that feature
magical and unbelievable happenings. The house gives a sense of it being hand made
and gives a rustic effect from the use of patterns and un-straight lines used
throughout it, give the impression of a hand made home. Each animal I created are
symbolic of their own characteristics without any need of explanation or description
through words. This can be seen in my book through the cat who is a symbol of
playfulness and the cockerel who connotes a sense of
pride and assertiveness which can be symbolised through
its bright colours and placement on the house to show
demanding and assertive characteristics.

17. What representations can be found in
your work?
Due to there being no people drawn in my book and only a mere mention of the
character ‘Jack’ who is not fully explored, it is hard to grasp any real representation of
humans or males. However the words that are being said throughout the book link
Jack to being a strong and independent male, who is able to build a house. The use of
having no physical image of Jack, allows children to use their own judgement and
imagination to make up an image for the character of Jack and interoperate him in
their own way. The animals are also not given any human characteristic so they cannot
therefore be categorised to give a representation of humans. Although my book does
not have a strong representation of males or females, I do not feel like it is a necessary
part of the book, and the book is not hindered by the absence of them. Even from the
early planning stages I always wanted to do a book based around animals rather than
humans, this can therefore be seen in my work and adding human characters back
into my book would not only be an unnecessary decision but also drift away from my
original intentions for my book.

18. What style have you employed in your
products?
I was heavily influenced by Eric Carle’s work and his distinct style of illustration, the
influence he had towards my work can be seen at multiple times throughout my work,
using similar patterns and overlays on each of my animals. Lauren Child also held an
influential mark on my work, her creative mix of typical cartoon drawings along with
real life photographs creates a non-naturalistic and different end effect. Child’s use of
brightly coloured patterns covering inanimate object, such as trees is something that
during my research, I found interesting and thought-provoking. Over all a more
abstract style of illustration intrigued me and drove me to recreate that style in my
work. Eric Giriat has a very defined style using a mix of actual pictures and
watercolours to create his art work, although what Giriat creates is too extreme for
what I wanted to create in my book however the mix of two completely different types
of art work put together into one image is something that was inspiring towards how I
wanted to explore my story through imagery.
Given the chance to improve my work I would of liked to experiment with more
patterns and expand my style I chose to allow me to create more scenery for each
page, giving it a place to be set.

19. My reason for choosing this visual style was due to the different and distinct look
they have, it’s different to your usual children’s book style and gives the reader a
highly captivating visual experience.
Eric Giriat’s abstract work
is very different and
inspired me to create a
children's book that does
not look the same as
most.
Eric Carle who
created the famous
book ‘The Very
Hungry Caterpillar’
was the biggest
influence when
choosing my style
and this can often be
seen throughout my
book.
Lauren Child’s
floral trees
captivated me
and urged me
to create a
similar style of
work.

20. What were the strengths and weaknesses
of the pre-production and planning
The use of pre-planning really helped me to develop and explore my ideas thoroughly,
before going ahead and creating my book from scratch, it allowed me to look into
different styles of writing, illustration and overall style before finalising my final ideas.
The research also allowed me to discover certain artists and illustrators who had an
independent and abstract style, one that I was looking to adapt and re-create to
produce in my own book. The research time also allowed me to find a font that I could
use throughout my book and would be able to be read by my target audience. This
was helpful because it let me find a correct and legible font to feature in my book,
improving the overall look and fitting in with my original intentions and aims.
Throughout the production time I managed my time sufficiently due to the planning
schedule, I allowed me to follow a structure set out by myself, this resulted in me
getting all I aimed to have done, completed within the time period set. During the
production time however my ideas and aims altered slightly, this is down to me
removing the character Jack from the story, because he did not fit with the style I
chose to explore in my book, I had already planned a session for ‘the creation of Jack’
however had to change this to keep a professional look to my book and not change
my recognisable use of texture in the book.

21. This gave me a free space in production and allowed me to add more detail into
each page and spend a longer period of time creating the garden background for
page four.

22. Historical and cultural context
My book is based on a popular cumulative folk tale which was first published in ‘Nurse
Truelove’s New-Years-Gift’ printed by John Newbery in 1750. There has been multiple
accounts drafting it back to the sixteenth century, but since then the rhyme has
continued to be a popular choice for illustrated children's books with recent examples
from Quentin Blake and Simms Taback. Blake created “The ‘Do-It-Yourself’ house that
Jack built’ which was published in 1994 and was adapted through the use of
illustration, something Quentin Blake is identifiable for and a style that can instantly
be recognised as his. Later on Simms Taback later published his own version in 2005
which he adapted to fit with a more modern audience and make more appealing
towards children, his style of work has a more darker colour scheme and a quirkier but
still cartoon like style.
The story that does not necessarily tell the story of Jacks house or even Jack who built
the house, but instead shows how the house is indirectly linked to other things and
people, and through this method tells the story of “a cow with a crumpled horn” as
well as other smaller events showing how these are all interlinked.
Due to the popularity and how widely well known the tale is known it has been
reproduced and republished multiple times in many different formats, throughout the
course of history, this therefore means that it is hard to trace back to an original
creditable writer, to reference from.

23. On the left the front cover for Quentin Blake's version has washed out more subtle
faded light colours which is a massive contrast to Simms Taback’s version that is
features on the left, he uses darker colours and a blacked out shaded version of the
house to represent a night time look, whereas Blake has illustrated the image so it is
made to look like they are already in the house. My front cover mediates between the
two, using block lighter colours but featuring the main attraction of the house
immediately.

24. Peer Feedback
• Summarise peer feedback and discuss
– Responses you agree with
– Responses you disagree with