colour variation

I decided to play around with colour for some of my patterns:

I tried making them different colours to what the food actually is, but I don't think it works - the appeal of the pattens is that it looks fresh and appetising but blue and pink food aren't natural. Although I think the pink peppers work more than the salad because there is less detail, so it is less obvious what is it meant to be.

The black background is interesting, it takes away from the natural, fresh feel but it does make it more lively and vibrant - a bit more exciting, although I can't imagine a black background working well on kitchen ware, I'd have to find a new use for it. 

I quite like these as they can be appreciated just for their pattern, rather than the content. I think the salad works better because the detail of the leaves and lemons comes out really nicely. I could imagine these working well on various products like pencil cases, insides of recipe books, notebooks etc. 

animated book trailers

I had a look at some animated book trailers to get an idea of how I could do one for Emil and the Detectives. I want to make it relatively simple, just using the imagery I already have from the book cover. I want it to be fun and energetic but also with a naive edge to it

https://vimeo.com/47697013 - The Insomniacs
I really love the aesthetic of this one - the hand drawn set is really effective, moving through the different layers works well to create a story telling atmosphere

https://vimeo.com/88147139 - Shh! We have a plan
I think the length of this is more realistic to how mine will be, as I want it to be simple and short - as if it was a banner ad on a book shop website

https://vimeo.com/104490915 - Animalium 
I love the collage aesthetic of this - just using imagery from the book and animating it slightly, I feel like I will be doing something similar 

https://vimeo.com/80009815 - A Menina do Fio
I love the simplicity and jagged/naive flow of the animation, I feel like this aesthetic will work well for my cover design and the cut out figures I have been working with

tutorial

I had a really useful tutorial with Fred, I was feeling a bit worried because I haven't done enough briefs. I've felt like I have been doing a lot of work but I only have 4 briefs altogether. But we worked out a way of rearranging the work I have done and expanding on certain bits to make 5 significant briefs. The new briefs are:

BRIEF 1- Dinosaurs
BRIEF 2 - Secret 7; put designs into context - collect them into a long concertina book. Think about displaying them somewhere - possibly colours may vary.
BRIEF 3 - Clockwork Orange - resolve final designs, present them/mock up etc. Think about application of design onto book marks, window displays etc.
BRIEF 4 - Emil and the Detectives - turn this into more significant brief; think about E-Book, how imagery can be seen digitally - animated trailer for book, gifs, storyboard for longer animation?
BRIEF 5 - Food Editorial - make this brief more significant, 5-10 editorial illustrations, mock up on websites, magazines etc. collection of guardian/observer editorial illustrations

This is much more reassuring, doing this will just emphasise the work I have done, make the module more well-rounded. I really like the idea for Emil and the Detectives, I have approached publishing in a few ways so far - with products and applied illustration with Lord of the Flies, and narrative illustrations with Clockwork Orange, and this ail give me the chance to approach digital publishing and animated illustration. I have seen a lot of animated teaser book trailers recently so I am drawn to that idea - I think it will work well with the chase on the front cover. 

new linos

I did another set of lino prints for the bit of the book where the boys went to rob the old lady's house, just before Alex gets arrested. All the prints for this one turned out pretty well:

The composition is similar to the first print, but I thought this composition would look good for the four characters - they look like madmen jumping across the page. It still has the creepy undertones with the nakedness, red eyes and weapons. I think all the prints will work together well when I'm finished. I used nice, thick stock for some of the prints which did work well, but I like how they look against the newsprint as it is slightly off-white - I might do the whole set on an off-white thick stock, possibly somerset

maps

I think the tectonic plate movements that happened during the pre-historic period are fascinating - to think the earth was just a few small islands in a massive ocean, to then turn into one massif super continent - and then all move away again. I definitely want to cover this somewhere in the final outcome. I think an interactive map could be interesting, possibly showing which parts of Pangaea became the continents we know today, and where all the dinosaurs came from - I think children would be excited to fins out a dinosaur originated from their country. 

I made a simple colour coded map matching a dinosaur to the continent it originated from, it is very simplistic but I quite like the info-graphic feel of it - it makes it very clear and easily understood. 

animation links

I've done a bit of research into simple animations to get some ideas for how I can animate my imagery:

Robert Hunter
http://robertfrankhunter.com/The-Jungle-Book-animation-teaser - jungle book
http://robertfrankhunter.com/Jon-Hopkins-EP-Teaser - jon hopkins 
http://robertfrankhunter.com/Buoy - buoy
He occasionally makes teaser animations to promote his illustrations which are really effective - they are often quite short and simple but really atmospheric. I think the actual moving figures would be quite a challenge for me, especially with the cut outs, but what I really like are his rolling background with little movements here and there - you can see he works with lots of layers which help create lots of depth

Sea Life
http://webneel.com/video/re-cycle-cut-out-animation
Stop motion - used using lots of cut outs, is quite simple and rough but works well to create sea-life scene. The images move so fast that you don't notice that there are static forms. 

Floating
http://www.ceminsk.com/post/34175584388/simple-illustrationanimation-of-nessie-the-loch
I like the simplicity of this - it is just a figure floating, it would be easy enough to have a background with some elements making little movements like this yet would still be effective in giving life to the imagery

Gifs
http://www.wired.com/2013/09/the-rise-of-subtle-tasteful-and-commissioned-animated-gif-illustrations/
This selection of gifs are really nice - so simple but make the illustrations so much more interesting 

Life of Dinosaur
https://vimeo.com/45616029
This is pretty similar to how I wanted my animation to look - the simple cut outs make it very appealing to children

Lake
https://vimeo.com/111034684
Again, very simple gif but the added movement gives it more of a relaxed atmosphere - more serene, adding movement and sound to mine could make it more lively and exciting or maybe scary?

dinosaur composition

I really enjoyed making this scene - I was making a lot of dinosaur digitally but I was getting pretty bored so went back to handmade cut outs and it was way more enjoyable and has turned out a lot more interesting I feel as I was playing around with layering and not making it perfect or really detailed. 
The colour palette really worked for this piece as well - I think for my final imagery for this project I should definitely keep to some sort of palette. 
It was after doing this that I got the idea for the 'make-a-scene' element of the pack - as I really enjoyed putting together all the dinosaur and setting bits, and I think kids would feel the same if they had all the elements, they could really play around with the setting to create a whole world - especially if it was on a big scale, wall size potentially. 
I think from now on I will do as most of the imagery cut out by hand - but maybe arranged digitally so that it can be moved again later if I change my mind, and it's less time-consuming. 

initial ideas for pack

The fun, educational and interactive pack which can be bought by schools or parents teaching KS1 and KS2 children about pre-historic time periods. 
Some initial ideas for the products within the pack could be:

• Timeline - a long timeline which went from Pangaea/Big Bang through to either the death of dinosaurs/meteor hitting earth or up until human started to evolve. It would be designed so it could be put up around the classroom - possibly with space under each time section for children to pin up their own drawings of the dinosaurs.setting etc. 
• Posters - of the different dinosaur groups (theropods etc.), dinosaur footprints (matching the print to the dino), the pre-historic alphabet (gives fun facts with every word) or dinosaur alphabet (with pronunciation help), good prints of singular dinosaurs for children's rooms (possibly older audience)
• Map - world map with colour coded continents and dinosaurs to pin to where they came from
• App for ipad/iphone - different scenes depicted, can scroll across them, slightly animated, can click on different dinosaurs for fun facts
• Game in addition to app - top trump type game, given cards with each dinosaurs strengths/weaknesses, can play them against each other. Cards can also be printed to play
• Book or series of Books - small, short books about one element of dinosaurs - e.g. just underwater reptiles, only theropods etc - can collect all of them
• Activity Book - teaches about dinosaurs and pre-historic time period using puzzles, colouring in, linking facts to dinosaurs, also sections teaching about maths, science, english and art using dinosaur imagery
• Life-size dinosaur footprints - can be put all around the classroom
• Make-a-Dinosaur - different limbs of dinosaurs which can be pinned together to make the correct form or play around to make own dinosaur
• Make a Scene - have all the different elements of the pre-historic setting; jungle, rocks, underwater, sky etc. which can be arranged by children to re-create own setting using dinosaurs. Can be printed onto card or digital and printed out
• Settings - collection of setting elements for a dinosaur lab/fossil digging corner; leaf/foliage bunting, big leaves, skeleton bits 

These are a lot of elements for the pack, but I think once the the aesthetic is pinned down and imagery is vein made, it will be easy enough to apply it to all these products - although all probably are not necessary. I really like the idea of the animated app, top trump cards, make-a-scene, make-a-dinosaur and the timeline so I might just start working on those ideas first.

educational pack research

I really like the idea of making an educational pack about pre-historic times, focusing mostly on dinosaurs. I think it would be easiest if I imagine it for a classroom for dinosaur week or something similar. 

I did some research into KS1 and 2 classrooms - there were lots of examples of 'role play' areas, where they would make it look like a pirate ship or police station or dinosaur lab. I could make some bits for a class to make their own dinosaur area - foliage, leaf bunting, dino skeleton imagery etc. which could be stuck up on all the walls

A lot of pin up boards have artwork, but ones the students have made - that would pose a problem for making all the wall art, there would have to be space for the children to be creative as well - I could maybe supply the extra bits - scenery etc. or have space beneath the timeline for children to stick their own versions of dinosaurs etc. 

Children learn a lot through experience, so I think it will be very effective to have life size footprints, similar to this, to really get across the sense of scale of the dinosaurs.

I did some research on the 'Bitesize' website, seeing their methods of teaching - there were lots of clips about maths, science etc which included animals to help teach. 
For example, this clip:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/clips/zy6qxnb
It is used by teachers for literature and creative writing - getting children to engage with descriptive words, shapes, colours etc. 
Or these: http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/topics/z9yycdm
Which use animals to show different food groups, animal groups, food chains - hierarchy in nature etc. 

Some ideas I had for teaching other subjects with dinosaurs were:
English - using describing words for dinosaurs, writing about a made up dinosaur
Art - drawing the made up dinosaur, a dot-to-dot of dinosaurs, colouring by numbers
Maths - counting; find and count up all the dinosaurs in a busy scene, ordering the dinosaurs into height order, dividing the dinosaurs into different categories (herbivores/carnivores, mammals/reptiles, four legs/two legs)
Science - food chains, evolution (what animals today have evolved from dinosaurs), bone structures

salad pattern

I made another food editorial for studio brief 5 (winter vegetable salad) so I have made another pattern:

This one has a very summery, healthy feel to it, I can see it working well on salad bowls, aprons etc. 

I wanted to mock up something combing a few of the patterns I had made:

I think the three patterns work well together as a set - fruit and vegetables. This brief is a good transition from studio brief 5, it allows me to get more out of the work I am making. 

peer review

I had a really useful peer review - mainly looking at our main projects. I was feeling a bit lost with the dinosaurs; although I have done quite a lot of work for t, done a lot of visual research into processes etc. I just wasn't really sure where it was going, or if a book was the right outcome or if I should be doing more. As I want it to be an educational product I wasn't sure if a book was the best way for children to learn, so the review was useful in terms of what I could do in addition/instead. 

Initial Ideas:

• good research into illustrators and books - clear what sort of work I want to do
• exciting and playful with approach to project
• research into more projects rather than just books - how have illustrators/designers created work that works in print/digital/3D/advertising etc it might give more ideas into where the project might go
• map out all the possibilities the project could be and eliminate what I don't like

Scope and Scale:

• it is positive that I have started thinking bout expanding on the book
• good to think about it as a project about dinosaurs rather than a book about dinosaurs
• adding an interactive element could be really good - especially if it is educational. A simple digital version of the book with simple animation could work really well
• I could work with the natural history museum on a new (imagined) exhibition or work with open university to make a pack to go with Attenborough documentary 

Visual Quality:

• good experimental work with process/colour/composition - this will be useful when starting final work
• lots of playful work - really exploring the aesthetic of dinosaurs with textures and layering
• the digital designs are the strongest but the handmade ones are more engaging  - find a way to bring them together more, maybe introduce shadows to the handmade dinos?
• maybe add a narrative element - not a long written story but just a key which ties things neatly together 

Effectiveness of Resolution:

• book idea could be really strong 
• having some more interactive elements within the project would make it really engaging and more likely to work as a real life educational project
• maybe think about widening the audience? 
• with the book, make it interactive with flaps with imagined dinos under or illustrate the personality of the dinosaur described 
• have see-through prints with the dinosaurs so a child can imagine what their street/playground/school would look like if it was roaming with dinosaurs 

Some other suggestions from the group discussion were:

• maybe widen the subject - not just dinosaurs, but the whole pre-historic period, looking at tectonic shifts, evolution etc.
• think bigger than the book - maybe only do a few spreads for the book and concentrate on what else I can do with this imagery
• think about an educational pack - something that schools can buy for their history/geography/science department. What would they want to fill their classroom with during dinosaur week?
• some ideas - a long timeline (pangaea to evolution of humans?) to go around the whole class, posters, activity books
• look at the different settings, have done a lot for dinosaurs on the ground, what about in the jungle, flying reptiles, under the water - possibly have books for each setting?
• think about a digital experience - virtual realities

There were lots of good ideas, so many that I will have to work out exactly what  want to focus on so that I don't get confused - it has made the project a lot bigger than I thought which makes it quite daunting, although there seems more point to it when it is an educational pack, that seems like something publishers and schools would actually buy into. 

lino cutting

The devil and figure overlaid weren't working as the two shapes were too different - and having the devil alone was too abstract and didn't make sense. I still want a devilish sense about the figure so I added red horns to the figure. I also added a boarder and more of a line of sight with a path to give the

This did work better but it still wasn't quite working - the ink wasn't transferring properly in bits, and the red horns didn't look good on top of the black. Also having each element as a separate lino made it really difficult to get the right composition and get the ink evenly transferred as it would dry in some bits before I had set it all down.
Having the separate elements was good before because I didn't know exactly how I wanted it to look, but now that I have a set composition it is quite difficult to get it right. So I went back to the lino cutting and made the same composition but on one sheet of lino:

I decided to add a much more defined path which lead off the page - making the composition less boxed in and less empty. With the prints earlier there was too much negative space - this was there will be marks transferred in the background which will give it more depth:

These were so much easier to make - there was no arranging needed except for the red horns which were a bit fiddly to get into place. I am pleased with these outcomes - I want to re-do a couple on nice stock. I am doing two more compositions for the book, this time I will thumbnail until I am completely sure and then use one sheet of lino.

a clockwork orange

I started on the three inside illustrations for a clockwork orange. I went through the book again to find particular scenes/quotes to work from. I want to make the illustrations quite simple and graphic - similar aesthetic to the front cover. 

The first scene I chose was when Alex lured the two young girls back to his house and raped them - it is a horrible scene but I thought I could do something interesting with it. I want the images to have a quite creepy aesthetic. 
In the chapter just before this one, Alex is asked why he is so bad when he has a good family and brain - and whether it is a devil that crawls up inside of him. So I thought showing Alex leading the girls with an under layer showing the devil inside him, playing a pipe to hint at the pied piper reference. I want to do something different for these illustrations - not just my usual process. I thought this could be a chance to try a different print method, so I tried making some linos:

These are the first load of prints:

I initially thought it would be a good idea to have each bit cut out individually so I could just place all the bits but it ended up being very impractical. It became impossible to get the same print, and placing each bit in the right place was really hard, I didn't get any prints which I thought were perfect. Also how I imagined the devil image laid over the Alex character didn't turn out very well, the figures didn't match up properly and looked messy. 

dinos

I made a couple more dinosaurs from the 'wall of fame' list:

Pachycephalosaurus (thick headed lizard) - thickest skull

Brachiosaurus - tallest plant eater

Torosaurus (perforated lizard) - biggest skull

I am pleased with these - I had fun making them. I'm not quite sure yet about how I will use them but they will definitely come into use. I don't think I will do all the dinosaurs on the list - only the ones that are particularly unusual looking/haven't seen before. I have been making these quite detailed so I might retreat back to simpler illustrations as it will be more time efficient when making the book - maybe start creating scenes/compositions which can be used in the book. 

winter veg salad

Yotam Ottolenghi's Winter Vegetable Recipes - roast baby carrots with harissa and pomegranate 

I wanted to do another quick food illustration - I really enjoyed the last one I did as it was fun to do and so quick! I decided to do a recipe this time from the Guardian food section as I think that is an easy way to show off food illustration. I went for this salad as it has a wide range of ingredients with good colours. I saw that Ottolenghi has a regular space with the Guardian website with his recipes so I might carry this on with a few of his to make it consistent. 

I think the composition works really well with this recipe - it makes a collection of boring ingredients fun and exciting - and the greens and yellows highlight the healthy aspect. I mocked it up onto the website where I found the recipe:

It works well with the structure of the website - there is a photo of the salad above the recipe but I think this would be a nice addition - making the page more appealing. I think it will look good in my portfolio to have a range of applications for food illustration - editorial, recipe and maybe try out mocking up illustrations on packaging?