Summative Statement

I have thoroughly enjoyed this module, I feel my work as a whole has developed massively since last year and I am leaving with a portfolio of work I am happy with. In my statement of intent I said I wanted to focus on book illustration, create work to quick deadlines, improve my design skills and how I work with type and image and generally produce a strong portfolio. I feel I have achieved all these things - the various book covers, secret 7 and the food editorial pushed me to work quickly and the dinosaur pack and book covers pushed me to really consider layout and typography. But I feel I have done more than what I initially achieved to do; I have developed a new interest in print after working with lino cut, which has pushed me to look for print studios once I leave uni. I have done a couple of book briefs but they weren't my main focus, I also played around with animation, and discovered an interest in children's illustration and educational illustration which I didn't expect. I have made sure I didn't get too comfortable in the work I am doing, because I end up getting bored - if I'm only making digital work, it all looks the same. So I have made sure I keep making analogue work and going back to mono print or trying out lino print to make sure my practice keeps developing, which is something I plan on continuing with outside of uni. At the end of last year I had doubts about whether I wanted to continue with illustration after uni because I didn't feel it was for me but after this year I am sure it is something I definitely want to try and pursue, I have made sure I have enjoyed every project this year and positive responses to what I have been producing has made me more confident in my practice. 

Project Report

Updated Statement of Intent

OUIL603 Studio Brief 1 - Dinosaur Pack Boards

I really enjoyed this project, and was really happy with the outcome. I chose the brief so that I could have a go at educational illustration again, because I enjoyed CoP. I really enjoyed the development of this project – I had so much fun with it. I played around with collages, mono printing and digital work through till the end of the project which I think kept the imagery lively and interesting - and it meant I didn't get bored by it. I am so proud of the outcomes, I feel like I really pushed myself for this project and worked really hard on all parts of the brief, and I think it paid off. Over the course of the project I feel my typography and design work has improved, I have thought more about how type and image work together, also I feel my use of colour has become more refined and mature. I have enjoyed working for something directly aimed at children, I felt I could really have fun with it which has encouraged me to do more work aimed at younger audiences. I was originally planning on making a beautifully illustrated book about dinosaurs, but I don't think that would have been as effective as an educational product - as people, especially children, learn through doing. I feel like I could have made the pack more interactive, as I only managed to mock up the interactive map and activity sheets, but I ran out of time and I felt the timeline and book were more necessary than the other bits because they included the core information. I wanted my last project to be a good one, and I have thoroughly enjoyed it and feel I have some strong new additions to my portfolio. 

OUIL603 Studio Brief 2 - Secret 7 Boards

I really enjoyed this brief because it was so open, I could do whatever I wanted with it and just make some really nice imagery. I was still responding to the songs and taking into account what they were about and tried to communicate that within my illustrations. I was really happy with the work I made, I was making them during and just after CoP so it was a nice break from the heavy dissertation work, which is why I think they worked so well, because I could be quite free with them. I managed to get one design into Secret 7 which I was really happy about - it isn't the best exposure but it is good thing to be a part of, and is something that a lot of other well known artists and illustrators contribute to - so the fact that I am exhibiting alongside them is exciting. I feel like I could have pushed the project further after I had finished the designs, like turn them into proper record covers or into some sort of campaign for the songs. I was wanting to make an animation with the orange and blue designs, with the boat floating through them, but I ran out of time - but it is something I could still carry out after the deadline. Even though I didn't push the project very far, I think I have come out of it with 7 strong designs for my portfolio, designs which could apply to a range of areas in illustration - editorial, publishing, surface pattern. 

OUIL603 Studio Brief 3 - Clockwork Orange Boards

This was an important brief for me for a couple of reasons. Firstly it allowed me to work with lino print, which is a print method I had never worked with before, and I found out I really enjoy doing it. I had stayed away from it as I felt it suited more line based work, whereas I work more with shape, but I discovered my work translates well onto lino and it's definitely something I want to continue doing - it has pushed me to look for print studios in London for after I leave uni. It has also given me the chance to improve my book design skills, illustrating and designing book covers is something I want to go into much more. I feel I have developed a lot from last year, my typography skills have definitely improved, and how I work with text and image together rather than two separate things. I spent a long time with the book cover, and it ended up very simple and stripped back but I feel like it works well with the dark adult fiction book. I was originally planning on doing the War Horse competition, but I am glad I made clockwork orange into a bigger brief because it meant I could create work with a bit more edge to it. All the other briefs I have been working on are very colourful, fun and could be considered kid friendly whereas this shows another side to my practice and gives strong additions to the portfolio. 

OUIL603 Studio Brief 4 - Emil and the Detectives Boards

I had a lot of fun with this brief, I wanted to build up a collection of book cover work in my portfolio but expanding the brief to make the animation was something I am really glad I did. I hadn't done any animation since last year so I found it quite daunting but I got into it pretty easily and really enjoyed it - I think I produced quite a fun little animation. Again I could build on my type skills, the back cover I was proud of as I had never played around with the format before, where I played around with the figures running around the text. It was also the first time I worked on something directly for children, I think it's important for my portfolio to show I can work for a range of audiences. I feel like I could of pushed this brief further, worked more on the idea of digital books and what other products I could produce for e-books etc. but I ran out of time and had to focus more on the final major brief.

OUIL603 Studio Brief 5 - Food Editorial Boards

I love drawing food so I had a lot of fun with this brief. It had started off as more of a process brief where I would just draw lots of food in my sketchbook, and improve my collage work. But I wanted to give the project more context and make it more applicable to the outside world so I decided to go down the editorial route which I hadn't done before. Although I had to really consider compositions for the brief, there weren't any complex concepts to work around so it gave me a bit of a break from the other projects - I think it's good to have a range of difficulty within the projects. I wanted to build up food illustration within my portfolio as it is something there is always a need for, as well the fact I enjoy doing it. I had originally planned to do 5-10 food illustrations but because of the time constraints I only managed 5 which is a shame because I was really enjoying doing them. I was wanting to do some more analogue and not digital - as that is how I had started the project, and the original point was to do more sketchbook work, which I stopped doing once  I began producing the editorial work. This project did fall behind a bit, and I had to put other projects that were more pressing before it. I am pleased with the illustrations I made though, I felt I could really play around with composition and make it quite pattern like. I also wanted to show that I can work with editorial, and not just publishing - it shows a breadth to my work. Although it would have been nice to do more sketchbook and analogue work, I can now send off these illustrations to food and lifestyle magazines, and have a collection of strong portfolio pieces which is more important. I will carry on producing responses to food articles and improving my food illustration because food editorial is definitely something I want to try and get in to.  

OUIL603 studio brief 6 - Pattern Boards

This brief hasn't been a very big one but it has been very useful to me to learn how to make patterns, and to think more about possible product application. I feel like I could have pushed it much more by making designs out of new imagery, not just illustration from other briefs, also thinking more about the pattern itself - as they are all relatively similar in their layout. I could have maybe tried some with bigger imagery learnt how to do a different, more complex type of pattern. But I am happy with the work I have produced and what I have mocked up, and it is something I want to carry on with as well as my illustration work as I enjoy making patterns and I feel my work does translate well into this field. 

final products

I tried photographing my pack, I ran out of time again to hire out the studio, or to ask someone to photograph it for me as I'm not very good at it. But they turned out better than my CoP which isn't hard. I decided against trying to photograph the whole timeline opened out as it is really difficult to get it all in while also making it in focus and look good. It isn't really necessary to photograph it opened out anyway as the boards show what is on them and the product itself is being submitted. The photographs I took of the other products however, I am pretty pleased with - and I took some close ups of the timeline to give an idea of what it looks like. I will be selecting some of these to go on my boards. I want to get someone who can properly use a camera to photograph it later of my website. 

extra products

Initially I was wanting to do a big pack of products, a lot more than I have done but due to time constraints and everything taking longer than I thought it would, I have had to mock some up and not carry out some ideas. I thought the timeline, book, info cards were necessary to the pack, and needed to be printed in order to view and appreciate them properly. I was wanting to make an animation but I didn't have enough time at all to even mock that up, but I did have time to mock up the interactive map and activity sheets. 

I made it simple and graphic with bold silhouettes for the dinosaurs. I kept the map just to colour coded continents rather than countries, as that would make it too complicated - and I wouldn't have been able to carry it out well in the time left. I think it looks good mocked up with the dinos placed on the map - it makes me wish I had printed it all out! 

I also mocked up some activity sheets:

 I chose games like 'match the print to the dinosaur' and 'name the dinosaur'. I think activity sheets are important as they help the children to process all the information they have taken in from the pack - like remembering complicated spelling. The map is important as it get the kids to remember facts about the dinosaurs like where they are from as well as learning more about geography and where all the continents are - which is more important in the long run. 

finished book

I finally finished the book! It took a lot longer than I thought it would - there was no way I would have been able to make two different books which is a shame. I am really pleased with how this one turned out though, it is quite different to how I usually work, as I was having to directly illustrate the information I was giving which I found quite challenging. I wanted it to be simple, and it ended up looking unite info-graphic-like which is interesting. There were some bits I was really pleased with: 

These are just little bits of the book design work I thought worked well - like the layout of the type around the world, or the simple graphic imagery communicating the text which I thought were well executed.

I added this to make the book more personal to the child who owns it - it makes the whole pack more interactive if the kids can write in it and properly own the products. 

The books printed out well, all the colours came out right, nothing was mis-aligned which is a relief. I printed out two because I want to give one to my little brothers who I think will enjoy this pack. 

I really wanted to make the two books because I thought they would have looked good together - maybe I'll make it after we have handed in, just for the website. But in the mean time I have mocked up the second cover. I couldn't find a good mock up online, so I just made my own with some plain paper which worked out better than I thought:

I am pleased with how these work - the two colour schemes work well together, the second book would have been a nice addition to the pack. 

info cards

These are the final info-card designs. I wanted them to be smile, with quick fire information. The idea is that children can get quick information about the dinosaurs, they could look along the timeline and see a dinosaur and then get information about that dino from the cards. 

I printed out the cards, stickers and box today - they all came out well but there were some annoying bits where the back and front didm't line up properly so I had to cut really close to the image, which makes it look a little messy

The stickers came out really well though - the colours and really vibrant and the images are so sharp! Really pleased with them:

box front cover

For the front cover of the box I have just used the same design as the timeline front cover:

I feel like the name of the pack isn't very imaginative, but I was thinking about the name for ages and wasting time so I just went with something simple and to the point. I will be using the same pattern I have used throughout the project for the inside of the box.

This is the net I will be printing with, the bottom of the box will be the same as the front cover but just in the dark blue with the same pattern on the inside.

making a box

In our final crit it was suggested that I find a way to package my products. I was wanting to do that anyway but was putting it off because I felt it might be too much work. But I have thought about how I might do it and I would just be re-approprating imagery I already have so it wouldn't take up too much time. I tried making a mock up out of paper:

The net I used worked (where I make tabs on each edge and stick it to another edge) but the paper itself was a bit flimsy, which might have been made worse by the fact it is quite big - as it has to fit my timeline, info cards, books and stickers. 

I made it again using thicker card and it held together much stronger. So I tried adding all the bits into it:

The box was actually much bigger than it needed to be - which is a god thing. Although the cut outs I made didn't fit very well, but they are much bigger than the final info-cards will be so I think that will be fine. I am going going to make it very slightly bigger than the timeline, so it all fits together comfortably. 

books

I aim to make 2 books for the educational pack, but if I run out of time I may have to mock the second one up. I want the books to focus on dinosaurs rather than general prehistoric life like the timeline. To break all the information up a bit, I am splitting the dinosaurs into their two main groups - lizard-hipped dinosaurs (Saurischia) and bird-hipped dinosaurs (ornithischia) and then will go into detail of a few dinosaurs in those groups. 

I have started working on a few pages, I want to keep to a limited colour palette and have the aesthtic much simpler than the timeline. The lizard-hipped dinosaurs are green and orange:

I'm going for a similar aesthetic as the front cover for the timeline to keep it all consistent. It also makes it quicker to produce as I am just re-appropriating imagery. The last image is the final cover as I think the middle one is too busy and messy, the last one is much cleaner. I have also started adding the phonetical spellings for the difficult names as I imagine it can be daunting for children to try and read the long complicated words - and it adds to the educational element. 

I have started on the inside pages - mainly putting together imagery and mapping out what will go where. I want it to be simple and clear - quite graphic with the imagery with not too much text. This book is aimed at dinosaur fans who want to know more in depth information about their favourite dinos, but in an easy to understand way. But I don't want it to look too childish - more like a mock scientific field guide, so children can feel gown up reading it. 

all together

Spreads close up:

All printed!

It's finished! I am really happy with how it turned out, this isn't how I usually work, my style is usually much more simple so this has been a bit of a challenge. I had a bit of trouble adding the text because I didn't want to have any text on the folds or cuts as it becomes hard to read, so I had to space it out in a way that still looks clean and neat. The text itself wasn't too hard to write, I just kept it simple using all the research I had already collected, I made it quite conversational and easy to read for children. I am a bit worried about trying to photograph it as its such as awkward format and will be difficult to get it all in the shot. Printing went all fine though, and sticking it together wasn't too hard as it was pretty similar to CoP and I just remembered what not to do - like making sure the joins from each new bit of paper is folded inwards, and that the front cover is a little bigger than the rest of it so it looks neater. 

extras

When I did my Russian timeline for CoP I was very pleased with the outcome but I felt it was missing a front cover/back cover as it didn't really feel like a completed book. So for this I do want to have it presented in a more packaged way with a front and back cover, and possibly a blurb to explain what it is. 

I started with the front cover, as I had already made the back pattern, I wanted to keep to the same colour scheme. I wanted it to look professional but also appealing to children, which I think the plants do well - also showing a dinosaur on the front cover will make it clear what it focuses on. The colour scheme works well I think as it isn't overly girly or boyish so will appeal to young girls and boys. 

I wanted to include some information about Continental Drift because I think it is essential to the educational pack as the pack teaches about the earth during that period of time, and it is a fascinating idea that the earth used to look so different which kids will be interested in. I was planning to put the difference globes along the bottom of the timeline but it would have looked messy - and I needed an extra page if I wanted the timeline to fold up nicely into a book. I am pleased with this page, I think it is clear and simple to understand - I tree to use easy language when explaining it. 

I then made a blurb for the inside of the from cover, just expelling the focus of the timeline and informing what dinosaurs are, trying to create some interest for the content of the timeline. I'm pleased with how these three pages work together, once I had the colour scheme it was all pretty quick as I was just re-appropraiting imagery I already had, and the information was research I had done a while ago. 

more cut outs

I have finished all the cut outs I need to start the first book (the lizard-hipped dinosaurs) which I will be doing to a colour scheme of green and orange:

I am happy with these, I'm glad spent time to cut them all out by hand rather than give up and do it all digitally because I feel it will be an advantage to the aesthetic of the book. And I am left with some really nice dinosaur cut outs as well. 

asteroid impact

I was a bit nervous about the last section of the timeline as it is the big asteroid hitting the earth and killing off all the dinosaurs - so it has to be big and powerful and take up a lot of space, but up until now I have been doing lots of small detail.

I started off with the big whole which the asteroid makes (the KT boundary), and have all the dinosaurs unknowingly walking towards it - which could be a bit dark?

I am pleased with this - I think it is definitely powerful and full of energy. I tried to make it look like the bits of rock were flying out of the page which I think I kind of managed to do. The varying shades of red really helps to communicate the deadly effect of it, while also filling it with energy. 

I didn't want it to end on a low point though, so at the very end I added some little green spouting plants to show that life did revoker and start to grow again - and I will add some birds flying into the distance as they are the only dinosaurs which survived (technically they are dinosaurs as they evolved from theropods). 

patterns

I wanted to make a dinosaur themed pattern which will be applied to some of my products - possibly the back of the timeline, the inside pages of the books, possible wallpaper designs etc. I just used imagery I already had but blocked it out into one colour silhouette.

Initially I made it using one of my purple textures I have used quite a lot within my dino project, I thought it looked quite good against the white

I wanted to add a background colour but against another texture the whole design got a bit lost and looked messy. So I tired a block colour but then the textured pattern still didn't fit right

So I used block colour for both elements which I think works really well - it is quite subtle pattern but with a lot going on. It was only after I did this that I noticed the empty spaces where the pattern wasn't consistent enough (just above the Ankylosaurus' tail). So I had to keep going back and editing it - as I can only really notice it once it has been tiled like this  - it isn't obvious on the initial pattern square. 

This is the final pattern, it is much more consistent and equal - each dinosaur has its own line. The colours are quite dark but I want them to be for the timeline, I don't want them to distract from the main imagery. But if I am to use it again in this project I might think about a brighter colour scheme, depending on the product.