This document outlines the planning and considerations for a digital graphic narrative project. It discusses costs, available resources, quantity, audience, quality factors, codes of practice, regulations, copyright, ethical issues, and a production schedule. Costs to self-publish range from £200-£700 while professional publication costs £1000-£2000. Resources like a computer, Photoshop, fonts, research, and inspiration are considered. The project will produce 300-400 copies targeting 3-6 year olds and their parents. Quality will be ensured through detailed graphics and research. Relevant codes, regulations around content and safety are discussed. Copyright is not an issue as the source story is out of copyright. The only potential ethical issue is

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:
This book will cost nothing to produce as it is all being made within college and presented through
the computer. However, realistically, I would have to look for a suitable publishing company or I might
even have to self-publish the book. From my research, I have found that self-publishing ranges from
about £200 to £700 depending on the editor, the number of books I would plan to print etc. However, if
I decided to publish my book professionally with a company, the prices would be much larger ranging
from £1000 to £2000 for around 300 to 400 books. I may also have to pay for fonts which could cost a
maximum of £10 and that is what I would be willing to pay for a perfect font.
Available resources:
Within college, I have all the necessary resources to completing this project. That includes a perfectly
working computer with Photoshop installed. Otherwise, I would have to think of another way to
produce my children’s book. This would also require a deadline. The prices to hire a laptop for a week
ranged from £15 to £20 a month and as my limit wold be up to a month, this would cost up to £80. On
top of that, Photoshop would cost up to £22 to rent for a month. To get a company to print my book at
perfect size with all the necessary features e.g. colour pages, matt finish, size etc. this would cost
roughly £300 to £500 depending on how quickly I would want it to be produced and delivered.

2. Quantity:
I would be looking to produce roughly 300 to 400 copies of the children’s story book and publish them
in the most populated areas such as London and Birmingham as they are very busy shopping areas
and tourist destinations also.
Audience and Target Market:
My audience is of course focused on 3 to 6 year olds who are the most likely to be interested in my
book. However, their parents or carers are also important to and count as audience as they will have
to purchase and read the book over and over. I think this book will appeal more to the middle class as
it’s a story that hasn’t really been heard of before and it may be something new that they’re interested
in reading to their children.
Quality Factors:
To ensure that the quality of my work is the best that it can be, I will try and include as much detail, to
the graphics of each page, as possible. This way, children won’t get bored too easily. To achieve this,
I will research other books and try to generate some inspiration in order to create some original
characters but also make them not too obscure. I will also use my research to create an idea of what a
general children’s book looks like and how they are presented.
Codes of Practice:
The codes of practice go over a range of legal and ethical issues which aren’t relevant to producing
my children’s story book within college. Realistically, there are plenty of rules and regulations to
publishing a book when publisher and author meet. Some of these rules entail equal rights for both
the author and the publisher. For example, if an author hasn’t produced their book on time, the
publisher can choose not to publish it or even take a portion of money from the author for having
wasted time. On the other hand, if the author has the book ready by the deadline and the publisher
decides not to publish it, they cannot expect to make profit. Also, the publisher has a right to decide
not to publish a book if it is inappropriate in any way, shape or form. Along with this, there is also the
profit and how it will be made. No author or publisher can back out of agreements and take as much
as they want. Once agreed on a percentage or amount, it must be stuck to no matter how successful

3. or unsuccessful the book becomes. On top of that, the book must be credited with both the author
and the publisher so that they are each given credit for their work.
Regulation:
There are also other rules when publishing a book regarding the reader. For example, as we are
writing a children’s storybook, if the book contains anything that could be of harm to a child. This
could be a toy that is included in the book like a finger puppet. As long as the finger puppet is secured
and made out of safe material, it is ok. Otherwise, it could be considered as a potential choking hazard
and deemed as something dangerous for children.
There is also the issue with the content of the book. As the book may be considered influential to the
children, it is important that the content of the book is strictly appropriate and caters to children of the
ages of 3 to 6 years. This means leaving out inappropriate behaviour. Otherwise, if stealing was
shown in the book, the character must be punished so that the reader knows that it is something bad
or wrong.
Copyright:
When considering copyright, I don’t really have to worry about copying a story as I found mine on a
website which includes stories which a pretty much all open for everyone to use. My story was written
by an author called Hans Christian Andersen who passed in the 19th century and most stories or other
products go out of copyright after 50 years if someone has not claimed back the rights e.g. a family
member. However, if the author of my book was still alive or the book was still under copyright, I
would have to get in touch with the owner, ask permission and potentially give back a small
percentage of my profit.

4. Ethical Issues:
The original story, which I am basing my story from, was set in the jungle. That is something I have
changed so that the story can be set within the woods instead. This is the only thing that I can think of
which could arise potential ethical issues. However, other than that, I can’t think of anything else
which could be offensive to different ethnicities. All of my characters are white which could be a
problem for someone to appeal to, however, it isn’t something that I have thought about or done
intentionally as my characters are the ones that I visualised in my head when deciding what the book
was going to look like.
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?
Working Computer Yes To be present in college.
Photoshop Program Yes To be present in college.

5. Font Style No Access to DaFont website.
Research No The library.
Inspiration Yes/No The library and the internet.
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:
Produce characters and get a good idea of what they will look like.
Start page one. Apply necessary characters. Add in extra details e.g. shadows, highlights etc.

6. Start page 2 (similar to page 1.
Session 2:
Develop page two, adding extra detail, and complete.
Start page 3, thinking about a different setting and background objects.
Session 3:
Complete page 3. Remember to utilise research (which will help with this page).
Make a start on page 4.
Session 4:
Work on page 4. This will be a bit harder as there will be more detail included.
Continue to develop page 4 to make it look the best it can.

7. Session 5:
Start pages 5 and 6. These should be easier to start as they don’t include too much detail and most of
the setting is trees.
Change and develop characters as necessary.
Session 6:
Finish details on pages 5 and 6 and start pages 7 and 8. These should be easier to complete as they
aren’t much different to 5 and 6.
Add extra small details to capture moods and feelings
Session 7:
Finish up pages 7 and 8 and work on Page 9. This will be very easy as plenty of pages have been done
within the same setting.
Complete page 9 by adding in extra features, to making it look more interesting, if there is time.
Session 8:
Work on page 10 only. This is a new setting so it might be more difficult than the rest.

8. Add in details to make the page look as good as possible as we are at the most important part of the
story.
Session 9:
Complete page 10 and start on page 11. This page needs to be developed in great detail as it is the last
page.
Add extra colour, highlights, shadows etc. to pages 9 and 10 to make them more exciting.
Session 10:
Make sure the book is complete and at high standard by going through and fixing where necessary.
Insert text.

9. 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.
Ensure you reference appropriate pieces of legislation, design to protect people at work.
Health and Safety Issue How can you prevent it?
Tripping over bags, wires or other objects in the
classroom.
Ensure that all bags are placed safely beneath the table,
wires are completely out of the way. Chairs must be
tucked in and the classroom should be left clean.
Being electrocuted.
Keep all food and drinks away from computers and safely
in bags to avoid spillage or potential damage to
computers as this could also be dangerous if electrocuted.