PROJECT: CHILDRENS' BOOK

“Writing for children means thinking about your own past.” Michael Rosen

This is the start of a new project: researching, writing, drawing and creating a childrens' book using print-based media. 

Task 1: Research

You will need to provide extensive research of children’s books, target markets, print finishing, printing costs, pre-printing preparation, legal and ethical issues and your child survey. You will also need to research: Narrative structure; types of structure, eg open, closed, single strand, multi-strand, linear, non-linear, realist, anti-realist, non-narrative; components, eg opening, conflict, resolution, cause and effect, enigma, equilibrium, climax, motivations, manipulation of time and space. Also, Image construction; eg form, texture, shape, pattern, line, tone, colour; anchorage, eg captions, slogan, combination of words-images-text; signification, eg technical codes, symbolic codes, cultural codes, connotation; representation, eg gender, race, age, sexuality, class, social groups, societies, cultures and religions.

Task 2: Development of Idea

You will need to include all of your printing techniques and digital techniques with annotation of its suitability for your book. You will also need to show your character development through sketches, storyboards, feedback and the narrative development.

Task 3: Producing a Childrens' Book

You will need to produce a book for a child between the ages of 0-5 years. Your book will need to be 12 pages plus front and back covers (both inside and out). That is 16 pages in total. The book can either be 14cm x14cm or A5 portrait. Your book will need to submitted ready to print before the project deadline. Therefore your book needs to be submitted digitally by Friday 14^th March 2014

Task 4: Evaluation

Submit a project evaluation that considers the following: realisation of intentions; fitness for purpose; responding to feedback; technical qualities; aesthetic qualities; skills, knowledge and understanding gained; technical competencies; creative ability; time management Criteria: - The target audience must be within the age range of 0-5 years - Must be characters, narrative and drawings of your own making - Must explain reasoning behind choices of narrative structure, components etc So, that is my project brief. I have already started compiling ideas of what children like, and started researching what makes a childrens' book successful. Amy

Project Proposal: Children's Book

Project Title - Graphic Narrative

Your personal interpretation of the project:

I’m going to do a story about a girl who is unable to go out and play with her friends due to her asthma. As a result, she imagines wild and wacky stories about far away places and impossible adventures. It will have a basic storyline and only involve at maximum 10-15 characters, as for a young child there should not be too many characters for them to remember. 

The inspiration you intend to research:

A main source of inspiration for me are the works of Lauren Child for the artistic illustrations in the Charlie and Lola books. These books are very insular yet due to the use of the imagination of the characters, the possibilities are endless.

I am also inspired by a number of young children I have encountered at a local primary school who have disabilities and some form of limiting illness which renders them unable to play like the other children. Instead of focusing on something that is uncommon such as cerebral palsy, I decided to address an illness that is very common in young children, and create a world in which it wasn't a problem. This led me to realise that the majority of children I knew who were physically limited suffered from asthma, and thus that became Pippa's Achilles heel.

The context of the work:

The work will be a children's book of twelve pages in lengthm with four extra pages for front and back covers. The target audience is children under five years, however studies show that development years 0-5 is so rapid that this cannot accurately be described as one age group, but rather 0-1, 2-3 and 4-5. My target audience the eldest age range. However, the book will introduce slightly more complex ideas into the book such as illness and geography. This is also because I hope to introduce an educational element; using famous locations like the Eiffel Tower, the Amazon and the Moon. My hope is that this will help children get a basic grasp on learning before, or as they start, their primary education.

Using a printed children's book instead of another form of media (e.g magazine or website) means that the material is much more accessible to children of this age. Many children are still read to by their parents who tend to buy books, which use both narrative and graphics to help encourage the interest of their children. 

Intended techniques/resources/equipment/software:

I have researched different paper types - silk, cold-pressed etc, in order to determine which one will be the best for drawing and then printing onto. 

I will be drawing the characters and scenes by hand, and then possibly scanning them in to draw over the top in illustrator so that the colours are smoother and the lines more confident. I will be able to layer the characters over the backgrounds and not have a variation in the way they are drawn.

How realistic is your idea?

FINANCES - I will not be using live action scenes, instead I will be sketching and digitally creating my scenes and characters, meaning that on this front, expenses will be minimal. 
- The RRP for a children's book of a size 12"x12", 16    page print, is on average £6.99-£7.99.
- The printing cost, on a small-run print of 100 books, is roughly £3.61 depending on the printing company. 
- 32 pages is the average for a children's book, excluding the covers but including the title page, dedications etc, bringing working pages (the story) down to roughly 28 pages.

PRACTICALITIES - the project is not difficult to put together due to the fact that everything can be done from home or the college. The most difficult part will be factoring in the age of the child and remembering that not every 4-5 year old is as intelligent as the others, and thus cannot be subjected to too complex a concept.
TIME - The project is quick to plan, the most time consuming of the stages of production will be printing. Therefore I will need to start printing, or formatting it to print, by mid-February, meaning that the plot, characters and scenes will have to be finished by then.

Your idea:

A Book called 'Where In The World"

Pippa, a four year old, has asthma and so cannot play out with her friends. Instead she has wild adventures around the world using her imagination! 

I really like my idea as it ensures that the concept of an illness or disability is not synonymous with loneliness or an inability to have fun. It also introduces locations like the Eiffel Tower, the Amazon and the Moon to a small child, with pictures. I will be using animals as secondary characters (such as an elephant) in geographically accurate situations - I have ensured that the Lion Tamarin Monkey is native to the Amazon before including it. 

I have also included 'Buzz and Neil, two space-men!' in the story, adding to the subtle educational arc to the plot (as obviously Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong were the first two men to land on the moon) in the form of some historical relevance. 

Final format:

I intend to do a 28 page story book (including the title pages, acknowledgements etc but excluding covers) with a closed, linear narrative.

The scenes will be landscape and fill the 140mmX140mm pages. I will use a basic font such as Helvetica, Veranda or Tahoma, as the sans serif will make it easier for a child to read the words and understand. I will be using a soft cover, saddle stitched binding which is the standard for a children's book, due to the durability of the binding stitch and the cheap cost of the cover. The paper will be 300lb cold pressed paper due to the flexibility of the paper, and the fact that it scans well. It is not too rough that it will cast shadows when scanning, but will be more forgiving to mistakes and more durable than the lighter, finer, or more textured, papers. 

Popular Children's Book Author Research

Quentin Blake is an English cartoonist, illustrator and children's writer.

He trained at the Chelsea School of Art and from 1999 to 2001 he was the inaugural British Children's Laureate. 
He had, as of 2006, illustrated 323 books, of which he wrote 35 and Dahl 18. Not only has he done illustrations for children's books, but also illustrations for several Folio Society limited editions.

A Great Day for Up - Dr Seuss, illustrated by Quentin Blake

His first illustrations were for the book The Wonderful Button by Evan Hunter.

Lauren Child is an English writer and illustrator. 

Best known for her Charlie and Lola picture books and the Clarice Bean series, she studied briefly at the London Art School.

Child uses scrapbook techniques for backgrounds and clothing mixed with basic illustrations of her characters to draw the eye of the reader. This allows her to combine the real (rooms) with the surreal (scary animals or wild adventures). Her inspiration came from her time in Sweden and much of the imagery used in her books can be seen to have Scandinavian influences.

Eric Carle is an American illustrator, designer and children's book author.

Although he has illustrated more than 70 books, he is most famous for his 1969 The Very Hungry Caterpillar. 

Carle uses the collage technique, for example hand-painted papers, and he layers his materials to form bright and vibrant imagery. He uses interesting and entertaining creations to tie in themes of nature, a common interest for small children, and uses this to bridge the gap between home and school life. His use of large pictures and few words enables the imagination and curiosity of the reader to flourish.

Joanna Cole is an American children's book author.

Her most prominent work is The Magic School Bus series.

Her inspiration for the books comes from her science teachers in grade school. Her books combine fiction and non-fiction and tie in educational elements to fun and interesting plots. The Magic School Bus Series has spanned over 25 years of success.

Image Inspiration for Chosen Book Theme

As my book as the theme 'around the world', I have chosen to get images to inspire the scenes and characters from the book.
One.// A Park

Two.// Paris

Three.// Ocean

Four.// Africa

Five.// Space

Six.// Small Children

Seven.// Mime

Eight.// Manta Ray

Nine.// Astronaut

Ten.// Elephant

Eleven.// Lion

As I am using a mixture of real and surreal, and I will be layering and collages, I have chosen to include both cartoon and photographic imagery. From these I will construct my hand-created characters and scenes, and scan them into the computer to enhance and layer together. 

The Guardian: Books for Children Research

• Children's books as a genre covers a huge range - from babies to young adult fiction
• Picture books aren't the same as illustrated chapter stories - Picture Books contain minimal text and are illustrated in full colour
• Never use words that describe what can/could be seen in the pictures - this is redundant and adds unnecessary weight to the story
• Rhyming books are often, though not always, turned down because they cannot be translated easily. This is because printing costs for full colour illustrations are high, and publishers have to sell foreign rights in order to justify the costs.

Evaluation: These pointers are interesting, as it made me reevaluate my story. I had chosen to write a rhyming and rhythmic narrative which I will keep as it adds an element of entertainment to the plot, but it is good to be aware of the dangers of rhyme.

WOLF TUTORIAL

BIG BAD WOLF

CUTSIE BLUE WOLFIE

ALIEN TUTORIAL - Sue Hendra

The Alien tutorial was simple and creates a fascinating character. Combining simple shapes and bright colours, it was the perfect way to draw an engaging alien which could be used in a variety of children's books. The concept of the tutorial could also be carried across to other animals or characters in a book.

Sue Hendra graduated from Brighton University in 1999 and has illustrated children's books ever since. She has worked on over 70 titles. She combines both hand-created and digital images for her work.

Her style of illustration pairs simplicity, vibrancy and interesting topics to provide engaging graphics. One such book is Keith the Cat with the Magic Hat.

Evaluation: Although I will not be creating an alien, I found that the concept was engaging. I believe that I will be using the method to create some of the secondary characters in the book, such as the astronauts.

Bird Tutorial - Luke Pearson

Luke Pearson, responsible for the Bird tutorial and subsequent animal illustrations, is an illustrator, cartoonist and comic book artist. He has produced art for the New York Times,

Penguin Books,

Disney Television Animation

and Cartoon Network.

He is the writer and artist of Hilda, a series of comics suitable for all ages, as well as a short graphic novel called Everything We Miss.



Pearson's easy-to-follow, transferable technique implements the concept of signifiers, and creates fun and simple animal cartoons, ideal for children's books.

My Attempts at Luke Pearson's Bird Tutorial

Evaluation: Although I like the technique, I do not feel that the simplistic and neo-realist style is conducive to the ideas that I have for my children's book.

Formal Elements in Art

LINE

In a literal sense, line in art is the path left by a moving point, such as a pencil or paintbrush. It is not restricted and can be horizontal, diagonal, straight, curved, and can change over the length of the line. They can show contours, movement or even expression depending on the execution of the line. 

SHAPE

A shape is an area which is enclosed by a line. This does not have to be shaded or filled in, but could merely be an outline. They could be geometric or irregular. The shapes created in between other shapes are known as negative space. Proportion is important to take into consideration when creating shapes, as well as size and positioning in relation to shapes around the one being drawn.

FORM

Form is a 3 dimensional shape such as a cube, sphere or cone. In 2D art, tone, perspective and shading can be used to create the illusion of form. Sculpture and 3D design are about creating forms. 

TONE

Tone refers to the lightness or darkness of a shape, for example the shading or colour of an object. Tones are created in real life by the way light falls onto a 3D object, which can then be replicated through shading and mixing colours in art. The areas of the object which has the most light on it is highlighted, and the darker areas, in shadow. This is not a monochromatic process, however, as many tones are used between the highlights and the shadows. 

COLOUR

There are three primary colours in art; red, yellow and blue. These cannot be made using a mix of any other colours, however in theory all other colours can be made from these three. The mix of two primary colour is called a secondary colour. Tertiary colours can be created by mixing a primary and secondary colour together. 

The colour wheel shows which colours are harmonious (next to each other on the wheel), complimentary (opposite on the colour wheel), warm (on the red side of the spectrum) or cold (on the blue side of the wheel). Black, white and grey fall under the umbrella title of neutral colours. 

TEXTURE

Texture is the surface quality of an object which affects the way it looks and feels. There are two types of texture; actual and visual.

Visual texture is created using marks and lines to represent actual texture. It is used to give the illusion, or recreate the look of, a particular texture, however it is smooth to the touch as it is only the concept of the texture itself. 

Actual texture is the physical distortion of a surface and object. It is created by changing the surface of your artwork, for example collage or scrunching, similar to sandpapering fabric to make it more worn. Combining material techniques enables you to create very interesting textures.

PATTERN

A pattern is a design that is created by using repetition of lines, colour, tones or shapes. The singular design that is used in repeat to create the pattern is most commonly referred to as a motif, which can either be a simple shape or a more complex composition. Patterns can either be man made, like a design, or natural, such as the markings on animal fur. 

MONOCHROMATIC

Monochrome means one colour, derived from the medieval latin monochrōma and feminine Greek monokhrōmos meaning of one colour. In terms of art, monochromatic work is created exploring the tone and intensity of one select colour. It does not exclude shading and hues of the colour, which can be added through mixing a complimentary colour in with the medium or adding black or white. A white addition creates a tint whilst black creates a tone. There is also the possibility of creating alternate tones through the use of saturation. The more water added to paint, for example, the lighter and weaker the colour. The more paint in the paint:water ratio makes it darker. 

COMPOSITION

Composition is the intentional formatting of any artwork. This means that there is conscious thought behind how a piece of art is created and is usually synonymous for design, form, visual ordering, or formal structure depending on its context. 

One main consideration when ordering a composition is whether the art is aesthetically pleasing. Artwork is most commonly considered aesthetically pleasing when arranged in a balanced compositional way, meaning that the individual elements of the artwork unite. However there are artists, such as Salvador Dali or Picasso, whose artwork is composed deliberately in such a way that disrupts balanced and traditional composition, and challenge viewers to reconsider how balance and design is used within artworks. 

Some compositional techniques include the rules of thirds, odds, and space; simplification, limiting focus, geometry, symmetry, movement, direction, perspective, centres of interest, and contrast. These principles are not all necessary to take into consideration when creating a piece of artwork and can be selected from in order to achieve the goal of the artist, however they cannot be applied separately to each other. 

Linear and Non-Linear Photography

LINEAR PHOTOGRAPHY

Linear photography is a series of photographs which tell a story from point A to point B. This is the most common form of photographic narrative, as it is clear to the reader or audience what is happening. 

My linear narrative consists of coffee pods being emptied from the vase. This was simple to create as it was just a matter of taking handfuls of the pods out at a time and placing them in front of the vase. There is no room for confusion as there is a clear start and finish - the vase being full, and empty.

NONLINEAR PHOTOGRAPHY

Nonlinear photography is a series of photographs which tells a story in abstract form, i.e there is no timeline to it. 

These photographs, taken in Starbucks, do not have a defined narrative to them. They do, however, indicate the situation of the photographer, and, paired with a written narrative, would be easy to comprehend. These are less popular, however can be used in children's books which are more informative than fictional narrative.