2. Does your final product reflect your original intentions?
Compared to the planning my final product has both stuck to my original ideas but has also managed to change in
some aspects. My original ideas were very traditional styled, I wanted the book to have a really
authentic look to it to really make sure that it fit into the ‘children’ genre. Mid planning
(just before the test pages) I wanted to have a different look to my work so I put
another mood board in my work to show the new psychedelic style that I wanted to
portray in my work. Already if you compare my new plan to my old plan my ideas for
the character style and the look of the book changes meaning the whole feel for the
book changes.
If you compare the mood board that I did at the start of the project
to the mood board that I did after changing my theme you can see
the difference between the character style and the design that I
wanted to do change into a more psychedelic and simple style that
held a lot more patterns and tones. My new plan was a style that I
was more familiar with and had more ideas about.
3. If you compare my plans to my first page you can
see that there is a lot of similarity and a lot of
inspiration is taken from the plans. This is not the
case for all the pages but especially this one you
can clearly see that there is a very similar style in
the plan and the final first page. I also took a lot
of inspiration from my mood board for the layout
and the look of each of the other pages. This
storyboard was a lot more inspirational for my
style then the first ones that I did.
When creating my flat plans I had just began thinking about a psychedelic theme; however I was not fully on board
with the whole idea so you can tell the difference between my original ideas and the outcome of my new ideas.
4. There is a much bigger difference between the characters in the pan and the characters that I ended up
making. In the plan the characters were much more free styled and hand drawn look. They all had the
same look of simple, quirky and fit the psychedelic theme.
However when making the character I really struggled with the technique and making the character look
how I initially wanted it to look. In the trials the characters were more of the style that I wanted but they
still didn’t really fit how I wanted them to look. My first completed character was in some ways more
fitting but wasn’t enough and my final character could be deemed as being too much. Overall the way
that my character looked is not what I had in mind and it didn’t fit the style plan that I wanted so it didn’t
look good on the page.
5. Layout was a major part in my planning process because I wanted to know exactly how things would
fit in and how they would look. This was so that the production process would be a lot easier. From
the plan, to the mood board, to the flat plans, through the trials to the final production I found a
layout that I liked the most and then stuck to it. The layout was something I was certain on from day
one so all the way through production it was much easier to deal with. The original intention and idea
stuck the whole way through the project and is reflected in the final product.
6. From the first page alone you can tell there has been a lot of development. In the flat plan my idea for making
the house was to have tall buildings in the background but when coming to it that didn’t work so in the test plan
that’s really when this psychedelic vibe came into role. The background took the lead roll in the psychedelic style.
I ended up not putting as much detail on the house but the rest of the image ended up with a lot more detail.
The difference between the test plan and the final page is also a lot more different. I preferred the house and
clouds on the plan compared to the final image; however I prefer the character and the text on the final plan.
You can tell that the page has developed a lot throughout the project compared to the first flat plan idea as it is
completely different from the plan. There is still the same idea there but the style and the way that it was
constructed is completely different.
It was mid flat plan process when I had the idea to change the style of my work and the way that I wanted my
book to have the quirky style so the idea of the flat plans are still there in the sense of story and the way things
will look and what the book will have in it but the more psychedelic aspect of the work is not shown in the flat
plans or planning process as much. For example on my mind map I talked about the colours that I wanted to use
but if I had this psychedelic theme then, then I would have wrote more about that on the plan, so the plan
doesn’t all match up against my final product.
Flat plan Test plan Draft 1 Final
7. How well have you constructed your images?
When constructing my images most of the work was done by making shapes,
this technique is something that I wanted to do because it allowed me to create
really simple images that fit the theme of my book exactly how I wanted them to
look. My style was something that was on the more quirky style so being able to
make my own images for the book was important and the best technique for
that was definitely using shapes.
Overall this technique worked out well for my images and I really liked how the images
looked on the visual scale. The really simple style just fit my psychedelic theme well and
the overall look was going into what I wanted the book to look like.
When using the shapes I used a black stroke around the edge of all the shapes and I often
added shadow shapes around the shape (cupboard for example) or I would shade the
images by adding more shape layers and just changing the colours (staircase) this was
a good way to add texture to the work and was a good way to make the image have more dimension and
shape to the image. For the shapes I used a variety of bright colours and colours that would be suitable, so
for the staircase it was brown like a staircase is- however for the cupboard it was pink which it not as real
looking. I did this so that there was a balance between the neutral colours and then the psychedelic, I also
did this because if the staircase was a different colours it would have been a lot harder to shade and it
probably wouldn’t look like a staircase if it was blue.
8. When it came to texture a lot of my focus was on giving the graveyard the texture that
it needs to create a completely different mood compared to the rest of the book.
When doing my flat plans I used different images of graves to show how I wanted each
grave to be individual style and have a different texture.
I wanted to have different textures so that there was more to look at in the book and
each grave would look individual and have its own style.
When doing the pre-production stages we used a clipping mask to change the look on
text and have a picture that overlays on the text. I really liked this technique and
when I was planning I knew that this was the technique I wanted to use to infuse
the texture into my work.
When doing the actual production this is the technique I ended up using to put the texture
onto the graveyard. I used this method as it was a good way to be able to put all the
psychedelic patterns onto each grave and then edit it to fit the the theme of the work. I
changed the opacity and fill then the hue and saturation to make the texture fit the theme
of the work.
I think this method worked the best as the visual look of the
work is the best it could have been.
I also used the paint brush to add little detailed texture to
the moon (and soup bowl) this was because the paint brush
offered a lot of textures that I could use to give texture to
the shapes.
9. I looked a lot at the ‘funny bones’ book by Janet & Allan Alberg.
I looked at this because it is genred as a children's comedy horror book. They use a
lot of simple designs that build up to create the book. There are parts of this book
like the grass that are simple but still have a lot of texture, what I liked about their
book is that the texture is toned down a lot to keep the minimalistic and simple look
but it still has that detailed texture to it- it is a very pleasing visual look and is
definitely something that I have tried to convey into my own work.
10. How well have you used text to anchor your images?
I made sure that the images were very accurate in what they showed and represented. I wanted them to make
sure that they fit that part of the story well. A very key point to me was to make sure the text and the images
represented each other and that they matched up. I didn’t want the images to show a different to what the text
says. This was so that the audience would be able to have a visual representation to what they were reading/
what was being read to them. This is similar to the style of Judith Kerr's novel “The Tiger who came To Tea”
which follows the style of only illustrating what is being explained in the text. This book only shows the minimal
and it is done in a really minimal style (white back ground, center of page, the minimal on the page) this is
something that I have tried to include in my book because I really wanted my book to have a minimal style so
there was a clear representation of what Is going on which is very simple.
When doing the text I made sure that it could be placed in a simple manner on the page. I wanted the text to
reflect and contrast the image that is above it. I always kept the text in the same format and in the same location.
I put the text in a central position and made sure that the sentences lined up in the middle of one another. I kept
the format like this on all of the pages so that it would have a home-style to the book, if all of the text was the
same format on each page it would mean that there is always a basic house style in place that supports the look
that I am going for. The text is always in the same place, if the location of the text doesn’t change then it makes
the book have the easy flow that it needs to make it easy for kids to read.
As for the font itself I used a a very rounded font that is thin but appears large which makes it easier for children
to read and when they are just learning this font is something that will allow them to read easier and it will make
sense to them more.
11. As for the words, I again wanted them to presented in a way which would reflect the minimalistic theme
that I have tried to present in the creation of the images. As I didn’t originally script the book I can not really
do much about the words however where I can change it to be more child friendly I have; but I have more
focused on the representation on the words and how many words go on the pages. I cut some of the script
then added the ghost aspect more so that the book would have the minimal content but would also still
make sense. Some of the pages are a lot longer and others are a matter of lines, this is because I needed the
book to fit the purpose of illustration and I didn’t want to have a page of text that wouldn’t have a suitable
explanation to it.
The way the book is worded is a very child friendly manner the repetition of the words “teeny-tiny” are
really empathized through the book which makes the motive of the book fit together; because the minimal
style, with the use teeny-tiny compliment each other.
Something that reminded me about the repetition of teeny-tiny is the Michael Rosen book “we’re going on a
bear hunt” This book has a lot of repetition to it and has a very specific flow of the book so when creating my
book I was inspired to try keep a flow to it like this book.
12. Is your product suitable for your audience?
At the start of the proposal the target audience was very specific and I had a clear idea about who I wanted to
market my book to and how I was going to make the book be ideal for that audience. My completed book is still
really suitable and fitting for the audience I originally planned, however there are some points which I would
adjust to fit the book to a better audience.
The age was originally aimed at children aged 3-6, however I would now say that the book is more aimed at
children aged 2-4 this is because the book is very facile that older children would not be as interested, the flow
of the book is also very rhythmic which means that it has a much younger tone to it which all make it a lot
harder to target at an older audience.
In my proposal I talked a lot about the class of the audience, this was because I wanted to create a book that
was suitable for a lower to middle class audience (price wise) I would still say that my book stands with this class
of audience. As the parents would be buying the book I would still want to create it so that it fits their price
ranges. It is definitely still suitable to aim this book at a lower to middle class because their was no extra
expenses on top of making it so it would be suitable to try and aim the book at this class.
13. Is your product suitable for your audience?
Something that was definitely more of a concern when creating the book was seeing if the style of the book was
suitable for the audience. I was trying to aim the book at an audience with an alternative background, there is a
psychedelic/ idiosyncratic vibe to the book that people who don’t really like to venture out of the ordinary
will probably not enjoy. After making my book I realize that the book that I have made is very suitable for an
alternative audience; however it is not as psychedelic as I originally thought so some people may like the
slight quirk to it without it being too overpowering.
14. To fit the target audience a lot of the book had to be a visual representation of the audience. The way I
did this was by making the character have very simple features like a lot of the psychedelic books I
looked at most of the characters are very unadorned, meaning that when creating my character I had to
make sure that she was made to have the most important features. I also had to make sure that the
colours and the patterns in the book all fit together to give a child friendly (kind to the eye) look visually
but also still represented the psychedelic style.
Looking at other children's books against mine you can see that there is that different look but my book is
still very audience suitable. The ‘Space Oddity’ book is a lot more like my book in the target audience. You
can see that book against my book is more similar then ‘Blue bird’ which is still a children's book but is
aimed at a older target audience.
The book that is aimed at the younger target audience has a much more basic and simple style that is
clear to see, this is because children with a younger age are more likely to understand this then they are
with a book that has a lot going on- this is much more harder to keep up with. So seen so my book is
targeted at a younger audience the simplicity of the book is much more fitting.
15. What do you like/dislike about the techniques you have used?
Throughout my project I used a variety of techniques. Some of the techniques were really beneficial and I
had no fault with them; but others had flaws that made me dislike them.
The first technique I used was Rota scoping, I used Rota scoping on the various silhouettes in my pages,
this is because the Rota scoping technique was a way that I could Rota scope a basic image and then use an
overlay to make a black silhouette. Rota scoping is good for small things that need to be accurate. The way
I Rota scoped was copying an image from Google into the document then using the ‘Polygonal Lasso Tool’
cutting around the image then made a ‘Layer Via Copy’ which gave me the part of the image I wanted then
I added a ‘colour overlay’ over the image.
I really liked using the Rota scoping technique as it was fast and easy; however I decided to Rota scope my
characters face and this is where I saw a small flaw as the image I Rota scoped was not on a straight angle
when I Rota scoped it this became an issue as the face lost its proportion due to the angle and not being
able to straighten it out. This is something that I would have to reconsider if I did the project again/ Rota
scoped an image which is not straight on.
16. To create the correct angles and the right scales I used the ‘Distortion’ tool a lot, this would allow me to be
able to angle the images to fit the page better, giving a better overall definition of the room. Having parts of
the room distorted more allowed there to be a better visual look on the image. Although this was only a
small edit and change it really had a big impact on the visual look and style. I used this tool a lot on the
windows in the bedroom to give the effect of different walls.
17. The main technique that I used was using shapes. All of my pages are mostly made up of a range of shapes
that build up to make a final image. This method was a method that was really important to make the style
of the book. I enjoyed using this technique because it allowed me to make an original look and allowed me
to create simple things to fit the style of my work. For example when creating the grave entrance I used a
lot of shapes to make a gate that fit the style that I wanted to create, it allowed me to create whatever I
wanted and style things accordingly to that part of the book.
As much as there was a lot of freedom with the shapes I did happen to come across some issues when
making the staircase. The first issue was making the shapes connect perfectly to each other so I found that
there was a lot of gaps in the staircase which gave it a less smooth finish which is something that became
an issue overtime, however there is more solutions for this but it was still something that was a recurring
issue. Something that was also a issue with the shapes is the shading, this again was more noticeable on
the stair case. Trying to make the final piece have depth and definition is harder when you’re working with
shapes and you sometimes can’t get the final look that you desire.
I originally didn’t intend on using the paint tool, it was not a technique I was going to use however I did
end up using it quite a lot for the details and especially the woman's face.
I used the brush tool usually on size 1, 3, or 9 this was depending on
what I was coloring and how minimal it was. These I found were the
best sizes for the results that I desired, I used the paint brush tool, the
blurred circle and the bold circle tool the most but also ended up using
the speckled looking tool also.
Although I didn’t plan on using these techniques at all I feel like without
them I would have ended up with a less detailed book in general. Even the hair on my character ended up
being created by the paint tool, this is because it allowed me to have a really defined look that I could fit
exactly to my style which is something that I couldn’t do with just shapes.
I can’t really say I had an issue with this tool as it is so easy to use and it didn’t take much to create the little
details that added up to create my book.
18. As my running theme was psychedelic I used the clipping mask technique quite often. This was to add a
psychedelic pattern to shapes as an overlay. The way I did this was by finding a pattern from Google then
copying it over to Photoshop. I then ‘Rasterized’ the shape I wanted the pattern to overlay, then ctrl and click
‘Create Clipping mask’ on the pattern overlay.
What I liked about using the clipping mask technique is that you can get a good effect and pattern from using
the technique which allowed my work to fit the theme that I was creating. I also loved being able to edit the
overlay to make it fit my theme even more, by going on ‘Filter Gallery’ I was able to edit the overlay and give it a
further effect to fit the page better.
Something I didn’t like like about the clipping mask method was every so often it would not work (sometimes
human error) and it would mean that I would have to spend double the time trying to fix everything that got
disturbed because of the clipping mask. Even though this is only a small issue it still meant that I had to take
extra time to fix the errors which all in all was an inconvenience.
The last method that I used was the ‘warping’ method. This was a method that was crucial for me as
allowed me to create shapes that were unusual and that could fit the work more. An example would be
the dress that my character wears was a circle that I warped to make a dress like shape. Having the
warp tool allowed me to be able to keep my minimal shape look without having the shapes have to be
so sharp and not work. The warping tool allowed me to create a better visual look on the book and
without the tool my work would have not looked as smooth and good as it looks.
19. What do you like/dislike about how your final product looks?
When creating my book so much about it was about the style and getting the visual aspects of the book to fit
the style I was going for. My book has always had a very simple manner about it but tied into having a really loud
and patterned style to give it that final psychedelic feel.
Something I did like about how the final product looked was the simple shape look that contrasted well with the
psychedelic look. The reason I liked this so much was because I feel like all of the colours really work with each
other and even though they clash it is a good clash that supports the style. The colours are something that
children will be attracted too more so having a lot of colours in the book is good then toning it back with the use
of shapes makes it not too overwhelming and it is a lot more manageable.
Something that the simplicity of my book reminds me of is the ‘Meg and Mog’ books by Helen Nicoll which were
books that I used to read as a child. These books always had that block colours look, it was a very vibrant look
but the black attributes made the book look less harsh. Another thing I liked about my book is the black
borders that I put around everything, these
borders made each part of the book individual
and stand out by itself. The black borders are
definitely what keeps the book having the same
house style; they are also what keeps the book
looking bold. Without the black lines the visual
form would really not have the same bold and focused look that it currently has. It would really lack the bold
look that it needs and wouldn’t look anything like it does now. Again the black lines are something that breaks
the bright colours and patterns and if they were not there then the colours would all end up blending
together into one and you wouldn’t be able to see the different levels. In the Meg and Mog books there is a
lot of sharp black parts and there is always a black outline which is similar to my black outline and silhouette’s
20. There are parts of my final product that I don’t like as much. This is because I feel like they don’t fit my style
or the style that I was intending to create.
The final look of my book was not how I fully aimed it to look which was probably down to my lack of
planning and researching. However looking at other children’s psychedelic books you can really see the
difference between my book and them books.
Looking at the style of ‘Blue Bird’ and ‘Peter, Pat’ you can really see a difference
in the style. Blue Bird was published in 1976 so it has a really authentic late 70’s
psychedelic style. In the time when this book was published the style was a lot
more artistic it was very comic book like and the colours were a lot more clashy
but they were more dull to give off the art look. This look is a lot more original
and if I had thought into it more and planned out the kaleidoscopic look more
then the book would have probably had more of a retro vibe to it compared to
the more modern look that my book had.
If I was to do this project again I would definitely look into making the psychedelic style less modern
and more vintage and artistic. Having this style would definitely make the visuals match my original
intentions.
Another major flaw in the visual aspect of my final project is the character style. The character style is something
that I really struggled with. This was because I couldn’t find characters to match the style of my book. I found
some characters that matched the style and when I tried to create these characters they ended up not fitting
how I wanted them to look and they just didn’t fit in at all. I still don’t really like how the final character looks. I
feel like she has a lot of visual flaws and does not fit in with the theme of my book which makes the visual aspect
have a lot more of a downfall because if the character looked theme fitting then it would have brought the book
together more, so it would have looked how I wanted it to.
Inspiration
Trial 1
Trial 2 Attempt 1
Attempt 2
21. Why did you include the content you used?
When designing and planning my book I had full intentions to make the book really bright and colorful. I ended
up making the colours in the book really bright like I intended. I used a lot of colours for different parts of the
book and each colours almost brings the book to life more. The colours in the book are something that the book
heavily depend on and are really a crucial point in making sure the book fits the theme.
Three very key colours that I used are orange, blue and pink. I ended up
using these colours a lot because they fit together quite well so they can
really reflect one another. These three colours are very eye catching so
the repetition of them throughout the book allows there to be a very distinct house style. Orange is deemed to
be a very happy and attractive color that stands out. Which when used meant that I could create a very bright
and happy book, fitting really well with the target audience as it is an aim to make sure that they are happy and
content. Blue is a very calming, natural and a staple color so using this color contrasts with the orange and
almost neutralizes it more. I really like the blue aspects of the book and the blue details are really eye catching. I
then use pink a lot, I am not a massive fan of pink but it really looked good against the orange, pink is a very
loving, warming color that could be seen as sensitive so again really works with the blue and orange to create a
lovely combination. When thinking about the colour pallet I really wanted vibrant colours on top of each
other and to be able to work with each other. This was so that I could achieve the
psychedelic look that I was aiming for. Not only do bright colours layered together give a
hallucinatory look but because they are so bright and vibrant they also do a very good job
in kids book as there is a lot of variety that will spark children’s vision and will attract them
to the book more.
22. When making the images I followed the very simple theme. I included simple images made up of shapes
because it fit the motive of the work more.
I only included the basics of images so that pages did not become over crowded with random images that did
not hold much meaning or purpose. From the additional characters, to the
simple images right through to the
more complicated and detailed
images, they are all made up of
shapes. This is because they give off
the simple look even if they are more
complicated.
In the book I have included a range of silhouettes, I included these to give more detail in the book. Having the
darkness of the silhouettes allowed there to be a break up between the bright colours and the psychedelic
patterns. The silhouettes were a good way to add detail without drawing attention away from the main focus
of the book- something that I wanted to prevent.
All of the images that I included are very different but at the same time are all the same because they are all
drawn back to the same house –style (made up of shapes)
I used the effects that I did because they allowed me to feed the psychedelic theme
that I wanted to endure. Using a clipping mask and adding a psychedelic pattern
allowed me to have that effect in place. A lot of the time I added a artistic effect
over the psychedelic pattern, this way so that it had more of a toned down look
compared to the loud psychedelic look. I also used the ‘opacity’ and ‘fill’ options to
make the look less vibrant and more of a artistic tone.
I used a lot of these effects so that I could try have more of a retro/ 70’s spin on the
psychedelic effects more then the really over the top modern effects.
I also used a lot of black and white patterns (on the graves) as this gave more form
and shape and really brought the page together.
23. When originally researching fonts and
trying to decide which font to use I found a
lot of graphic fonts that were really good
for children, however these font were not
really ideal for a font that would be able to
work for a standard font that children
would be able to read. The other font’s
would be good for titles and less important
text but for the actual text I needed to find
something more simple and easy to read.
My text
Inspiration text
The font I used
I looked at other children’s books like the “Dear zoo” book by Rod
Campbell. This book has a really good font and spacing. The text is really
clear and easy to read. I then went on 100fonts.com and found the ‘Voces’
font which is a really flowing font it is thin but still manages to have a large
look to it. It is a very easy font that is very child friendly.
It was important to find and use a font like this because otherwise it would
have been a lot harder for children to read it, which would ultimately defeat
the idea of the book.
24. What signs, symbols or codes have your used in your work?
I didn’t realise how many signs, symbols and codes I used until I was evaluating my work, when I was
doing the evaluation I realised how many symbols and signs there were in my work, surprisingly a lot
more then I thought.
The first being the choice of characters that I used
I used the characters of a ghost and a (small woman) a ghost is a symbol of
fear and is very scary, a ghost represents a frightful situation. When a child
sees a ghost in a book they immediately know that this means that it is
something daunting and creates a really intense situation. The contrast to
this against the small woman indicates that the woman is a sign of
weakness and the ghost is a sign of much greater power and is a lot bigger.
This sign is something very simple but it is a code of fear and alarm to the
audience.
Location is another sign that is used in my work. Most
of the book is set in the house which is a much more
calm and relaxed setting, the house is much more
relaxed whereas the grave yard is much more
daunting. The grave yard is a foreshadow into the
event of something bad happening, the colours are
much darker and the fence is very shape and.
dominant in the page so it instantly holds that scary feeling to it which signals to the audience that this is
scary and something bad is going to happen, again that contrast between the airy flow of the bedroom
and the darkness of the grave suggests that something bad is going to happen.
25. My choice of style is psychedelic and is full of patterns which doesn’t really signal anything or have much
meaning, however the style changes between the psychedelic background scenes, the graveyard scene
and the house scenes.
The psychedelic backgrounds are really focus points of the book.
They are all pages where the woman is really ‘teeny tiny’ and
they are pages to show how tiny she is. When she is in her own
house style is very open and airy, giving the audience a feeling of
relaxation and having the page this open means that the style of
the book is taken a lot less lightly.
Compare these two styles to the style of the grave yard and you
see that the psychedelic patterns are a lot more dark coloured
and they are a lot more black and white. This shows that the
graveyard is the most dark and dingy place in the whole book,
which is ironic because this is when the woman is in the least
threat. The style of the book changes depending what is
happening at what time and what mood needs to be conveyed
to the audience.
I also know that a lot of my colours symbolise the mood of the book and they indicate what is
happening in the scene. In the more ‘scary’ scenes the colours are a lot more dark, there is more
blacks, greys and dark greens. Compare this to all of the scenes in the house where the
background is orange and the colours of the curtains represent a more bright and happy feeling.
The use of the darker tones and colours instantly dull the page which is like the dullness of the
mood that is in that part of the book.
I use orange a lot in the book and even on the book, this connotes the energy and the fieriness of
red combined with the happy attraction of yellow and creates a very attractive colour that is
eye-catching for children but also conveys a lot of simulative senses.
26. What representations can be found in your work?
Looking back on my work I have realized that my book does not have many representations at all. It doesn’t
represent Race, Religion or Social groups at all. There is no indication of this at all in my book and the story
itself has no representation of any of these groups. I have also looked back and realized that there is a lack of
variety in the characters, as there is only one character they can not really add too much representation in
one person, however in my version I could have added more characters and had a bit more variety in them.
The one main representation in my book is the representation of woman and gender. The way that they are
portrayed in this book is almost stereotypical in one sense; but on the other end of the scale it is very gender
neutralizing.
The more stereotypical segments of the book is the way the woman looks. She is said to be ‘teeny-tiny’
which instantly gives the idea that she is very small and almost too fragile to do anything, she is most
certainly characterized as a delicate woman. When this book was published it was still in the days where
woman were deemed fragile and unable to live an ordinary life as the men had to do everything, and the
way she is worded ‘teeny-tiny’ really shows how small and almost insignificant she is. In the original script
you can also see that the woman has more stereotypes such as ‘making soup’ this may not be a missive
stereotype, however it does show that a representation of woman is to cook and women cooking has been
a very big stereotype for a long time.
When making the book there are a dew things that I have made the woman
that really add to the whole representation of woman. When making the
woman she ended up wearing purple and having curly hair/ ‘pretty’ features
which show that the representation of woman is what they look like.
I also made the woman look a lot more small and belittled by a ghost, which
again shows that she is very small and fearful, something that women are
often seen for is how vulnerable and fearful they are.
27. On the complete flip side I have also created my own representation of the woman as I have made her
independent and fearless. As much as she is belittled by the ghost and she does fear him she also sleeps
straight after. So she independently deals with the ghost and then she goes straight back to sleep after
doing so. This reverse side of the representation shows the fact that not all women are the same and
balances out the representation. The woman goes from being completely frightened
to being less frightened so this shows how she is
more independent which shows the independence
of woman and even though she is really small this
doesn’t mean that she is not independent and can
not fend for herself.
Age is a tricky one on this book as in a lot of the
other copies the woman is shown as being middle
age or old. I have made my woman a lot younger.
However if you look at a lot of the books that have
a focus on a woman character a lot of them are
the ‘an old lady’ ‘an old woman’ ‘little old lady’
‘little old woman’ and there is a lot of focus on
them being old and fragile.
My woman is definitely a lot younger then the
woman in these books, however throughout
planning I was going to portray her as been a lot
older.
28. What style have you employed in your products?
In my work I have employed a very modern take on a retro psychedelic look. My visual style is very
alternative and hallucinatory. The reason I have this style of work is because there is not many books on
the market like this, it is not a common style- which may be a con of the style but it also means that
there is a lot of room for this style as it is independent and different. My style of book is definitely very
unique and something different, it is a style that I am very familiar with and have a very personal interest
and love for, meaning I have much more knowledge and I appreciate the work more.
A major influence on my work was the ‘Bowie A to Z the life on
an icon’ book by Steve Wide. This book is a book that I
completely love, even though it is a children's book I just feel
like the visuals and the art work of the book is very quirky and
I love the style of it.
When planning my book I remembered this book and the style
of the idiosyncratic art work which is by far one of my favorite
looks. Even though this book was not similar to my style too
much in the end it was the main reason that my ideas and
thoughts changed into the style I did do. This book showed me
such a good style and it almost gave me the confidence to
create a book that is alternative.
29. Another major influence of my work is the ‘Lucy I the sky with diamonds’ music video by The Beatles
(1967) my life has basically revolved around The Beatles since I was very young and the retro
psychedelic style that is in the original video has definitely influenced my work.
https://vimeo.com/107213875 If you look at the screenshots from the music video you can see
that really artistic psychedelic look from the video. It is very
busy and there is a lot going on but the colours are still a lot
more toned down then the modern style that is around now.
The style of the video is what I wanted my book to look like,
that very bold look but has the good contrast between bold
and toned down colours.
If you look at one of my trial characters
and then look at Lucy out of the video you can see that there is a similarity of the face shape and the face
style of them. There is a lot of similarities between the characters due to the influence of the style.
This style is done by using a digital illustration, in the pre-production process this is a mix between the
illustration stage and the Rota scope stage, it is a manipulation and creation of an image that is done on
the computer to create a cartoon digital illustration (like a drawing but done on a computer) seen so I
used a lot of shapes and warped them together they create a digital illustration.
30. When planning the book I also looked at existing products of both the Teeny tiny books and Psychedelic
books. This was so that I could have a good and clear idea of the components of each style of book.
The books I mostly looked at when looking into the Teeny- tiny books are:
- Paul Galdone’s version
And
- Margot Zenmach’s version
I looked at Galsdone’s version because when researching the book this one
always came up, it is a really popular version so I wanted to look at it to see
how he represented the characters and his interpretation of it. I really liked
the style of Galsdone’s work and how his version of the book really followed
the traditional style of the script. I learnt a lot more about the script from
his work and how the book is suppose to be.
I then looked at the Zenmach’s version which is more
unique and has a sense of quirkiness in it. I looked at
Zenmach’s work as it was the same story but it had a completely different style and it
was a style that was more likely to be like mine as it was much more simple and made
up of clear shapes. This is definitely an existing style that I would be happy to convey
into my work and is a good visual style of the book that I have taken inspiration from.
The books I looked at when researching psychedelic books are:
- Peter Pat
And
- The colour trumpet by Ulf Löfgren
I looked at these books as they were a good way to be able to see how
other other psychedelic children’s books have shown the psychedelic
style. I ended up really liking these two books because of how they
interpreted the retro psychedelic style whilst still being able to keep a
child friendly book.
31. What were the strengths and weaknesses of the pre-production
and planning?
When doing the pre-production and planning stage there were a lot of things that I did which strengthened
the project and there were a dew things that were weak with the planning and pre-production.
When doing the research (initial task) I researched which book I wanted to illustrate, this was a very strong
as I was able to look at a lot of different stories and see the pros and
cons, it allowed me to find the book that was most suitable. I also did
research into existing books to see the more visual looks but this
stage was more looking for the book I wanted to illustrate. It was a
strong research because it meant that I could get all of my ideas, pros
and the cons of all the books down and I could then eliminate the
stories one by one until I found the book which was the best for me
and the one I loved the most.
I then looked at the more visual styles, this ended up being a massive weakness in my work. However
originally the process of looking at all the styles and making mood boards with the styles that I liked on
them gave me a freedom to look and find a style that I wanted, this was a really beneficial stage because it
meant that I could look find styles and get inspiration.
However the negative side of this was I didn’t really open my options too much and kept very traditional
and didn’t really look outside the box too much, this then fell back when I decided what style I wanted but
hadn’t looked into it too much and I had a hard time then adjusting to these new styles and trying to fit
them into my work. If you look at the first two mood boards compared to the one I wanted to create you
can see a very big difference.
32. When I started the planning process this is really when the strength of the project picked up more. The
planning process allowed me to be able to trial out methods and techniques that I had researched into.
The time I spent trialing techniques saved me time in production as I knew what I was doing and I knew
how to do it more so I could easily get on with it which saved me a lot of time.
Whilst in the trialing stage I was able to trial out all of my thoughts and
ideas and I could pull them all together and see what was going to work
best in my work. I trialed out a range of opening scenes and characters to
work on techniques and looks. I really benefitted from this as I found a
style that I was confident with and a style that I could use.
Another crucial aspect of the planning stage was the time planning, this was
when I created a schedule that was detailed in everything that was needed to
do in each session. I am a very time conscious person and having this in place
allowed me to stay on track and I always knew exactly what I had to do, when
to do it and when it had to be done for. This process definitely allowed me to
save time as it meant that I could make sure that I had done each minor bit of
the book done on time.
In the actual production my time management was very good as I had this
time schedule to keep to and is something I did keep to well. However my
weakness was in the trials and in the planning and evaluating stage, this is where I fell behind more
because I had not completed certain tasks on time such as in the pre-production Rota scope and the
comic book, which I then had to catch up on in the planning and evaluating time which then meant that
some of that work was incomplete so I ended up going in a really vicious cycle. I caught up on all the
work but I still had the initial issue which could have been solved with better time management.
33. Also when planning I looked at all of the backgrounds of the production such as the audience,
resources and script writing. These again really helped me to know what I wanted to do and how I was
going to achieve it. Knowing all of this background information meant that I knew what I was going to
do allowing the production time to be reduced drastically.
Knowing the audience meant that I could target my work at the correct audience for the start and with
the audience clearly in my mind I could easily fit my work around that instead of having to change that
at the last minuet. When I started the full planning and
production stage I knew exactly who my
target audience was so I was able to go
full ahead as my plan was suited to that
age already.
I did a lot of pre planning for the resources
as well because it allowed me to see what I
needed to get or what I already had which
meant that I could prepare myself for what I
needed or what I had to get which meant I
was prepared for production
I also planned the script in detail, this
helped a lot as it allowed me to save time
during production as I had a clear
indication on what I had to put onto each
page, this made me feel more at ease
when making each page as I didn’t have
to constantly worry about the text.
34. Historical and cultural context
The teeny-tiny woman is a traditional folks tale book. The story is very
traditional and is considered a ‘classic’.
When looking into the books the edition that often came up is the Paul
Galdone version. This version is visually very traditional
and even though Galdone did not write
the original version the way he illustrates
his books are definitely very traditional
styled.
When looking at his books I found that he did a second version which is
much more modern styled but it is still very traditional and follows the
theme of the book, and the style that it is wrote in. Galdone published his
first book in 1986 which is still a very long time ago so the style of art keeps
that very detailed traditional style.
As this was the book I mostly looked at when I wanted ‘teeny-tiny’
inspiration it is definitely the most popular book, and even though the
content doesn’t fit the style of work that I wanted to convey it still manages
to give a good interpretation of the book and as it is a classic it is definitely a version to look at.
The book is described as
“A droll rendition of the old English ghost story about the teeny-tiny woman who found a teeny-tiny
bone in the teeny-tiny churchyard”
The way that this is descried shows us how much the book is one of the more traditional versions and even
though it is not the original it is the closest.
Something else that caught my eyes when looking at the book is how it is 32 pages when it is a children's
book, this is something that is not usually seen in a children's book as it is considered a long read. Which
shows that Galdone has a much more traditional style and his audience may be a lot older
