This document provides a planning guide for creating a digital graphic narrative. It includes sections on costs, available resources, quantity, audience, quality factors, codes of practice, regulation, copyright, ethical issues, and a production schedule. Considerations for the project include costs if printing 1000 copies for public distribution. Resources available include design software like Photoshop and word processing programs. The narrative will be designed for children ages 3-6. A 10-session production schedule outlines tasks like character/background design, page layout, text insertion, and quality checks. Health and safety precautions are also addressed, such as preventing trip hazards.

1. Digital Graphic Narrative Planning
Use this booklet to help structure your planning and collate your planning documents.
Considerations:
There are lots of things to consider in this project. Fill out each section in detail to show you have thought about each one. You
should imagine that this is a live project, so considerations like cost, quantity and codes of practice must be thought about in that
context rather than just as a college project.
Costs:
The main equipment needed for me to design and create the children’s book, would be a computer, ranging
from a Mac to a laptop. If the book was to be printed for the general public, I would print around 1000 copies,
so the price would include everything from the paper and equipment to ink and colouring. I may also draw out
some parts of the book, which would require a specialist pen and to be able to draw out the work onto a
graphic tablet which would allow me to put the raw drawing onto Photoshop and then post edit the image.
Available resources:
I have a computer and also the necessary equipment, such as a mouse, a keyboard, and a monitor. I also
have the software that I need, which ranges from editing and creation software such as Adobe Photoshop,
and then I also have the software for the text that I need, which I could choose anything from Microsoft Word
to Microsoft Powerpoint. I will use Google for certain websites, specifically DaFont, which allows me to
download free fonts which can be used for the text of my children’s book.

2. Quantity:
I would be designing, writing, and printing this book in order to aim it at many different families across the
country, and so I would be printing hundreds and thousands of copies of the book for families across the
country. It would be mainly mass marketed, as it is a story which isn’t specific to any time of the year or class
of a family, and so the book would be appropriate for mass production rather than a small number of limited
edition copies of the book.
Audience and Target Market:
My audience is going to be primarily aimed at children aged 3-6 years old, and both genders will be attracted
to the storyline, though due to the space theme, which is stereotypically associated with boys rather than girls,
it may be more popular with a male audience. There is not a specific social class for the families I am aiming
the book at, though it will be especially popular with middle class families who prefer traditional stories rather
than branded stories from cartoons on TV and films. The book will be mainly popular in English speaking
places such as Britain, and potentially the USA, Australia, and other countries like Canada or New Zealand.
Quality Factors:
I need to ensure that the quality of my work is of a high standard, in order to make the product more popular
and sell more copies across the countries. I can influence this in many ways, ranging from paying from the
best possible printing methods so my book is of a better final definition, to creating the actual book pages with
the best software available and taking the most time possible. This means that the book would look better,
with sharper and more detailed images, that are designed to be better for the child to read and enjoy.
Codes of Practice:
The Publisher’s Association Code of Practice covers how publishers should interact with the authors of the
books, which can be about anything from legal to financial issues. These issues however are not relevant in
the project, though if I was to do a similar project in real life then these issues would have to be taken into
account. The PACP also contains other relevant information, such as time restraints and deadlines, the
standard of the book and its artwork, the quality of the book’s story, as well as more serious issues like
defamation and illegality, which are all necessary and to be taken into account when creating the product.

3. Regulation:
In terms of regulation on children’s books, there are various different issues which come when trying to find a
clear regulatory law. There is a regulation for books which fall underneath the definition of a toy, which means
they need to be compliant with the new Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC if sold on the European market.
There are various companies which conduct toy testing services in order to ensure that the toy is safe enough
for children, whether that’s a book or anything else. For a book to be classed as a toy, it would need
something extra, such as a pop up in the book or something contained within the book. The product must also
be compliant with the Obscene Publications Act of 1959 and the Equality Act of 2010, which basically means
that there can be no ulterior messages, intentional or not, contained within the book. These can range from
racial issues, like a set of good characters being of one race, and then the bad characters being a different
race. This could cause offence to various races, and there is also the Obscene Publications Act, which means
that the book cant show anything close to crime being unpunished, such as a bad character stealing
something and getting away with it without any consequences or punishments involved in the book.
Copyright:
With the majority of fairy tales, the copyright on the story would have expired long ago, and so it would be free
for the public to do what they wish with it. The copyright would have expired for various reasons, such as the
author dying a long time ago and the copyright running out over time, or the story simply being a story which
was passed down by oral telling, until it was written down. However, some stories have still got copyright,
especially recent stories such as video games, films, or TV shows, and so these stories would require
permission from the original owner to be edited. There can also be copyright on different artwork, such as
images taken from the internet or previous drawings in different texts, ranging from comics to kid’s books.
Ethical Issues:
The ethical issues involved in creating children’s books can all be applied to my project in some way. These
issues can be anything from decency, which means that I need to ensure there is nothing inappropriate for
children within my age range. This could include anything sexual, violent, or horrific within the book’s story or
art. There are also issues involving representation, which means you cant represent someone in a
stereotypical, offensive, or negative way. This can apply from individual characters in the story, all the way to
an entire race involved in the story, where the real life equivalent could be offended by. Cultural sensitivity is
also a big part of creating a children’s book, as if the original story was from one culture, it could not be
changed too much as this could cause offence to the original culture and their story.

4. Resources:
A successful project relies on good planning. Considering all the resources you will need for a project and then assessing which
you already have and which you need will help ensure you are ready to start your project.
If there is a resource you don’t currently have, then consider how you are going to get it before you go in to production.
Resource:
Do you have
it? What do you need to do to get it?
Adobe Photoshop Yes Nothing.
Google Images Yes Nothing.
Monitor, Mouse and Keyboard Yes Nothing.
Microsoft Word (Text) Yes Nothing.
DaFont.com Yes Nothing.

5. Production Schedule:
Delivering your project on time is vital. In order to do this, you need a solid plan of action. This will help you divide up your work in
to manageable chunks to be tackled one at a time. It will also allow you to plan which tasks need to be done in which order. It will
also allow you to track your progress each day. If you are falling behind, you will need to modify the way you work. If you work
faster than expected, you can clearly see what the next steps you need to take are.
Each session is a half day of college.
Session 1:
Character design and creation to be used later in the book production.
Background design and creation to be used later in the book production.
Session 2:
Character design and creation to be used later in the book production.
Background design and creation to be used later in the book production.

6. Session 3:
Character design and creation to be used later in the book production.
Background design and creation to be used later in the book production.
Session 4:
Begin making each slide with the correct background, allowing room for text.
Session 5:
Begin putting in the characters onto the pages, starting with 1.
Start altering the characters and their angles and facial expressions etc.

7. Session 6:
Begin putting in the characters onto the pages, starting with 1.
Start altering the characters and their angles and facial expressions etc.
Session 7:
Start writing in the text on each page in the areas provided.
Session 8:
Start writing in the text on each page in the areas provided.
Session 9:
Double check all parts of the book, ranging from the illustrations to the text, ensuring spellings and
images are accurate and appropriate for the book.
Session 10:
Contingency time for any other work needed.

8. Health and safety:
Your health and safety and that of those around you is very important. Just like in industry, an accident could prevent you from
working. Whilst we don’t work in a highly dangerous environment, there are still risks. Some are short term, such as trips and
spillages whilst others, such as long term damage to eyesight or back problems, may affect you much later in life.
Consider the risks based on the activities you will be undertaking during the project. Explain how you could prevent them from
happening.

9. Ensure you reference appropriate pieces of legislation, design to protect people at work.
Health and Safety Issue How can you prevent it?
Bags and long wires laid on the floor could be a tripping
hazard for anyone else in the room, which could result in
both bodily harm or equipment damage.
Put all and any loose items and equipment out of the way,
such as under tables or if there are wires involved, try to
move them so they are hidden or out of the way.
Open bottles of liquid such as water or cans filled with
energy drinks could break the computer, or the equipment
necessary to use on the computer.
Close all and any bottles and don’t even open cans, put
them in the bin if they can’t be closed securely as they are
a danger hazard to the electrical equipment.
Sitting in one position staring at a screen with not enough
movement could cause both bodily harm from lack of
movement or also eye damage from staring at a screen.
Take regular breaks from working, where you go and
stretch out and exercise and rest your eyes from looking
at a bright screen for an hour or more.
The product may be created with the use of some
chemicals, ranging from fumes and dusts from the factory,
all the way to the printing chemicals and paint.
When the product is being printed and created and
shipped, if there were any hazardous materials or
chemicals involved they should be labelled clearly.