In your assignment piece you do well to create a technically well resolved and cohesive feeling series of final works which bring together illustration and graphic design skills in a balanced way. The way that you develop these designs through your mind mapping, reference collection methods is good. Your line drawings also have a technically well executed style which feels clear and communicated. Whilst its clear you are able to use line drawing and watercolour quite well, it would be good to see you experimenting with a wider range of approaches and considering and reflecting on your choice to use a particular style for the final work. Why did you choose watercolour here? What was it about this material that felt relevant to the brief or audience? Could you explore a wider range of drawing approaches or mark making styles in order to explore a range of options before settling on methods for your final designs? As you move forward, look to do plenty of experimentation before settling on final ideas. Allow yourself to take creative risks and to explore new methods, or to develop methods learnt earlier in the course. ITs good to see you bringing in various references as part of your research. As you move forward, it would be good to see more reflection and critical writing around the research in order to give a sense of why these researched images are relevant ,what techniques they use and how these discoveries help to inform your own approach to designing. In the ‘travel exercise you research relevant examples very well, just look to bring elements of this more in depth research into assignment work too if possible. ’ Here is could have been interesting to research and reflect on travel illustrators but also illustrators working with a wide range of watercolour techniques. This would hopefully give you more insight into the breadth of ways in which watercolour could be used, and into the different ways in which travel illustrations might be approached. With each of these, consider what effects the use of imagery, colour, composition and materials have on helping to communicate or to engage with a particular audience.
My response to the feedback
I’m glad that my final work is showing my illustration and my graphic design skills. I probably could do more research about the watercolour illustrators and the reason that they chose watercolour for their work. I personally like the feeling that watercolour makes which is subtle and not that over powering to dominate the whole design. Also, I do appreciate all the unexpected effects that watercolour creates. For this assignment, I wanted to use a traditional watercolour to start with then enhanced it in Procreate as well as adding the type.
Action points
looking to do plenty of experimentation before settling on final ideas.
reflecting and critical writing around the research in order to give a sense of why these researched images are relevant ,what techniques they use and how these discoveries help to inform my own approach to designing.
Looking at illustrators working with a wide range of watercolour techniques.
allowing myself to move out of my comfort zone and to explore more experimental techniques in order to develop my skills and creative approaches.
Continuing to develop an in depth approach to working with composition and style / material in order to continue developing my personal voice and technical skills.
Bringing in depth research and reflection into assignment work.
Trying to add a more ‘questioning’ approach to my reflection to communicate why I choose to work in the way I do.
In this section of the course it is great to see you continuing to develop your digital technical illustration skills whilst experimenting with a good range of styles. You work in a thoughtful and well researched way, and your reflection shows a good level of self awareness and desire to continue to challenge yourself to work in increasingly creative ways. As you move forward, it would be great to see you taking note of these areas of interest, for instance your love of digital skills and your desire to challenge your creativity, in order to continue to experiment, develop and reflect on your illustration work. In many of your exercises you respond to your brief in a well structured way that integrates research, with idea development and experimentation well. In your assignment piece, it feels as though your moved more quickly into designing your work. As you move forward, do look to bring research into assignment work too through finding illustrators with thematic or stylistic links to your chosen topic as this should help you to figure out the opportunities for working with challenging themes, and to uncover and reflect on creative ways of approaching a theme. In your assignment piece for instance, you could have researched other illustrators and artists who have worked with still life in different creative ways. This could have helped you to work through the challenge that you mention is presented through this focus. As well as doing broad research, its good to see you going into more depth in some areas too in order to analyse and reflect on work. This is seen in your focussed research into the collage artist Hoang. I like the way that you have annotated these images in order to show your thoughts on them. It feels clear, concise and stylish.
My response to the feedback
It’s good to see that my passion in digital art is obvious in my work and my tutor recognized it as well. I agree that the assignment was a bit challenging for me and perhaps more research about the illustrator who worked in that topic would help me to find a better way to respond to the brief. Reflecting on how others do this should help to also inform my own approach to choosing styles or techniques in order to be as communicative as possible. Based on the feedback that I received, I know that I need to test more options before jump into the final work.
Action points
Challenging my creativity by testing out more ‘options’ in my development stages through experimentation. This could include testing options for colour palettes or style.
Considering how important style and colour are in order to communicate. Use deeper research to reflect on how different illustrators choose to use a combination of techniques in order to communicate their message or atmosphere.
taking note of the areas of my interest.
Developing an awareness of the range of styles available within different medium and to choose methods to help my communicate or express a style.
Reflecting on what kinds of themes and methods I am drawn to in helping me to develop my personal style.
This is a great start to the course; you already show a good ability to respond to briefs, the draw and to analyse work. I’m confident that through continuing to be aware of the need to challenge yourself and through engaging with the exercises in the next sections of the course you should be able to experiment with a wide range of techniques and develop your ability to imaginatively and creatively develop your illustrations and your ability to communicate visually.
It’s great to see you beginning to reflect on what you would like to achieve through the course and to develop. As you move forwards, do continue to reflect on this by considering how each exercise could be used in your work in the future, or how you could adjust things in the future. As mentioned above, it would be great to see more reflection that gives insight into your designing and creative choices through adding in brief notes to the sketching and development stages of your work.
My response to the feedback
I’m happy I made a good start. I understand that throughout the course I need to challenge myself and use different range of techniques. I also need to use my imagination to improve my creativity.
Action points:
Building a big toolkit of techniques that I can combine in order to respond to briefs in an in depth and imaginative way.
Learning about background description to the illustrators lives to get a sense of their context.
Considering how different illustrators work can be an inspiration to my own work.
Experimenting with different creative methods and to build up a more rounded and experimental method of responding to the briefs.
Developing reflection on my design process.
Continuing to develop my approach to combining the handmade and digital.
The exercises that you’ve completed in this part should have helped you identify the forces which shape a commission and the processes to go through to create an illustration ready for print. You should now be ready to work as an illustrator. This assignment is an opportunity to consolidate the understanding you’ve gained so far, reflect on the work you’ve enjoyed, the successes you’ve had and the areas of illustration you feel most drawn to. It allows you to create certain parts of the brief yourself so that you have the maximum capacity to show off your interests and talents. As you think about what you’re going to produce, keep on with your ongoing visual research by looking at examples of existing work or contexts. Above all, be open-minded and analytical and try several variations until you arrive at a brief which feels most interesting for you. The brief The title is Seven days. These can be the seven days of the week or random days that tell a story. Your interpretation can be objective or subjective. You can produce seven separate, one large diagrammatic or a continuous strip illustration. You can decide on the media and methods you will use; the context – magazine, newspaper, book, brochure or poster; and the intended audience. You need to write yourself a brief that is clear and challenging but manageable. What to do Be aware of the processes which have so far led to your development in ideas generation, visual research, image construction, understanding contexts and media usage. Make sure that you are clear what the final size should be, but you can work at any proportional size. Use worksheets and sketchbooks to explore solutions and refer to examples of work which solve similar types of problems. Think back to how you have treated similar briefs.
Keywords:
The title is Seven days
Try several variations until you arrive at a brief which feels most interesting for you
Your interpretation can be objective or subjective
You can produce seven separate, one large diagrammatic or a continuous strip illustration
Decide on the media and methods, the context and the intended audience
Write yourself a brief that is clear and challenging
Ideas generation, visual research, image construction, understanding contexts and media usage.
Use worksheets and sketchbooks to explore solutions and refer to examples of work which solve similar types of problems
You need to submit all your working stages from thumbnails to final artwork
Mind mapping
I made a mind map for all the 7 days subjects that I could think of.
I decided to make a tourist leaflet “South UK in 7 Days”.
After brainstorming ideas through mind mapping and gathering inspiration from Pinterest boards, I developed the concept of creating a tourist leaflet focused on exploring southern UK over the course of 7 days. I experimented with various media for the design, which helped achieve a tactile and engaging effect.
I created my illustrations using watercolor and ink, a process I thoroughly enjoyed. Since the artwork has a soft, organic feel from the watercolor, I wanted to complement it with a typeface that had a handwritten, personal touch.
Although I’m satisfied with my designs, I feel they may lack creativity and imagination. I believe this is an area I need to improve on in order to make my illustrations more inspired by imagination rather than just real-life references.
You have been asked to produce an illustrated strip of up to five frames for use in schools explaining to young teenagers how to cope with the onset of puberty. You can decide on which aspect you want to tackle. Due to the subject matter and the intended age group it is suggested that you use metaphor and humour when conveying the message – though take care not to trivialise a serious message. The client would also like you to provide a single illustration of your character for use on the front cover. The leaflet is called What’s happening to my body? It’s all going mad! You will probably find thumbnailing very useful here to work out how each frame will relate to the others. You need to submit all stages of the development process – thumbnails, visuals and client visuals for the cartoon strip and the stand-alone illustration.
Keywords:
Produce an illustrated strip of up to five frames
Use in schools
Use metaphor and humour when conveying the message
Take care not to trivialise a serious message
A single illustration of your character for use on the front cover
The leaflet is called What’s happening to my body? It’s all going mad!
Submit all stages of the development process
Thumbnails, visuals and client visuals for the cartoon strip and the stand-alone illustration
Puberty is a very wide subject and as I just needed to summarize everything in only 5 slides so, I decided to concentrate on puberty in girls.
Puberty is the time in your child’s life when they transition from a child to an adult. Special hormones are produced and released that trigger the signs of puberty. Your child will go through the five stages of puberty. By the end of the process, they’ll have reached sexual maturity.
What is puberty?
Puberty is when your child’s body begins to develop and change as they transition into adulthood. It’s the time in your child’s life when they go through the physical changes to reach sexual maturity and are capable of reproduction. The stages of puberty follow a definite path with a progression of physical changes. The emotional changes of puberty may not progress at the same pace as the physical changes. Both the physical and emotional changes of puberty begin and end at different ages for each child.
Puberty starts when a part of your child’s brain called the hypothalamus begins producing a hormone called gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). The hypothalamus sends GnRH to another part of the brain called the pituitary gland. GnRH stimulates the pituitary gland to release two more hormones — luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). These hormones travel to the sex organs (ovaries and testes), triggering them to begin releasing sex hormones (estrogen and testosterone). These messenger hormones cause the telltale signs of puberty to begin.
When do girls start puberty?
Girls generally begin puberty about two years earlier than boys. Puberty for girls usually starts between the ages of 8 and 13. However, Black and Hispanic girls tend to start puberty earlier than white girls (age 7½ instead of 8).
What are the stages of puberty for girls?
The Tanner stages also outlines the stages of puberty for girls and when they’re likely to occur. There are separate Tanner stages for breasts and pubic hair. The Tanner stages can serve as an excellent guide to the changes you can expect to see in your daughter. There are five stages of puberty for girls.
Stage 1 is prepubertal. In this stage, girls haven’t experienced any visible changes.
In Stage 2, physical changes begin. Between the ages of 8 and 13, girls typically experience:
Their breasts begin to bud, and their areolas (pigmented area around the nipple) enlarge.
Scant pubic hair appears.
Height increases by about 2¾ inches per year.
In Stage 3, physical changes speed up. Between the ages of 9 and 14:
Their breasts continue budding.
Underarm hair begins to grow, and pubic hair continues to grow. Pubic hair is coarse, curly and in the shape of a triangle.
A growth spurt of more than 3 inches per year occurs.
Their skin becomes oilier, and acne develops.
In Stage 4, puberty hits full stride. Between the ages of 10 and 15:
Their breasts continue growing, and their nipples start to protrude.
Pubic hair is still in a triangle, and there are now too many hairs to count.
Growth may continue at the rate of about 2¾ inches per year.
Problems with acne may continue.
Periods (menstruation) typically start around age 12 (usually around the same age their mother’s and sisters’ periods began). Some girls, especially those with disordered eating, start later.
Stage 5 is the final phase. Development typically ends in this stage. Girls reach physical adulthood. Pubic hair may extend out to their thighs, and some girls may have a line of hair up to their belly button. Most girls attain their peak height by age 16, but some may continue growing through age 20.
What kind of emotions do girls go through during puberty?
All girls go through emotional changes during puberty. Some are affected more than others as estrogen and progesterone cycle through their bodies.
The combination of social and school pressures and moodiness can cause emotional outbursts and conflict with parents. You may think your sweet girl has turned into a mean girl. When you see her actions impacting others, it’s worth providing her with a safe space to “feel all her feels,” or share her emotions.
Step in whenever there are issues of safety or morality, and otherwise provide safe harbor for her to explore her new identity. Avoid being a helicopter parent or a “snowplow,” shoveling all stress out of her way. Allowing her to learn from her mistakes, as long as they’re not life-threatening ones, shows your confidence in her ability to problem-solve for herself.
If you see signs of anxiety, depression or other mental health challenges, share your concerns with her healthcare provider. Sometimes, prescribing hormonal therapy, such as birth controlmedication, can ease symptoms and improve mood. Other times, she may need counseling or other medications to help manage moods and build skills to develop resiliency and fine-tune her strengths.
Thumbnails
Based on my research about puberty, I made some thumbnails.
Sketches
I chose one character and made five different signs of puberty in girls as well as a cover page.
Design process
I used ink brushes and textures in Procreate to make my designs.
Cover
Slides
Mock up
Self- reflection
I quite like my character, I think it’s working well with the topic. For this exercise, I just concentrated on some signs of puberty in girls.
Looking at my design, I think each slide could be in a separate page. Again my final design is digital, however I think it shows my style. I promised myself to take a traditional approach for my assignment.
Collect as many examples of imagery for children as possible. Group the illustrations you’ve collected into the target age groups. Include at least one image for each age group: Pre-reader, Pre-school (3–5), Early reader (5-7), Established reader (7–9) and Older age groups. Take two of these age groups and, for each one, go through a process of brainstorming around at least one word chosen from this list: Festival – Scary – Wild – Growing – Journey – Sad – Family – Discovery Pick an animal appropriate for each age group and brainstorm to identify themes, images and ideas pertinent to your age groups. Create a simple image of your animal engaged in an activity that communicates this word. Be conscious of the need to achieve stylistic consistency in the development of all the content you include within your imagery. Remember that you’re creating the world in which your character operates. Explore the colours and materials to use for your illustration. You’re engaging in a process of visual communication and you need to be conscious of the nature of your visual language in the same way as you would use language when speaking to a child. Are the target age brackets for children really as clear-cut as we’ve made them here? How did the function of image and text differ within the different age groupings? What is your response to the idea ‘all children’s illustration has bright colours’? Make notes in your learning log.
Keywords:
Collect as many examples of imagery for children as possible
Group the illustrations you’ve collected into the target age groups
Take two of the given age groups
Brainstorm around at least one word: Festival, scary, wild, growing, journey, sad, family, discovery
Pick an animal appropriate for each age group
Identify themes, images and ideas pertinent to your age groups
Create a simple image of your animal engaged in an activity that communicates this word
Explore the colours and materials
Research: The Age Levels for Children’s Books
Board Books
Age: 0-3
Wordcount: None-100
Example of a Fun Board Book for Kids!
These are books that we call babies first books (Although they should really be called babies first chew toy!). Thank goodness publishers make these durable for the lil’ chompers.
If you have a story about lullabies or basic concepts, like shapes or colors, then you may be writing a board book. At this age level, the main character is very young or even an animal but there isn’t normally a plot. For instance, Baby Billy could be understanding body parts and words/pictures would go “Billy’s Belly”, “Billy’s Toes”, etc. These can even be fun, novelty books like finger plays and pop-ups.
All of these books will use VERY simple language if there’s any language at all. If you’re not illustrating your book, be sure that your manuscript is illustrator note heavy so the editor can visualize your book when they read your manuscript.
Picture Books
Age: 3-8
Wordcount: 250-1,000 (The current sweet spot is 500 words or less for the commercial trade market and some picture books may have less than 100 words or even none!)
Example of a Top-Selling Picture Book (And it’s AMAZING!)
Ah, picture books. Of all the age levels for children’s books, this is the one everyone thinks of and the one that’s most popular to write.
These gems are typically a 32-page layout that use illustrations to help tell a story. The main character is in preschool or kindergarten (But can be an animal) and it’s normally told in third person. The plot is a simple arc where the main character MUST solve a problem themselves– no matter HOW tempted you are to have Mom/Dad/Crazy Uncle Larry/Mrs. Teacher Helperton assist the character in solving their problem. Don’t. Agents and editors will not like it.
These books are made to be read aloud, so have fun with word choice, including using bigger words.
It’s very exciting when a child can start to read for themselves. Kids are proud and parents are overjoyed to see kids reading.
Similar to the previous age levels for children’s books in character and plot, Early Readers are created with light-hearted themes and normally geared for the educational market. However, with traditionally published books created for the commercial market, the plot is sometimes even SIMPLER and writers are restricted to tightly controlled language and word choice by publishers because these books must reach specific reading levels.
And like picture books, they will have ABSOLUTELY NO description. Instead, you should only use action and dialogue to tell the story.
Word Count: 8,500-12,000 (Can go up to 20,000 words for older readers.)
My Favorite Series to Read Growing Up!
Chapter book series were my favorite to read in elementary school, and that’s the truth for a lot of kids. Books like the Babysitter’s Club, the Magic Treehouse, and the Boxcar Children have been favorites for years!
If you want to write these books, you will want to create a character that’s 1-2 years older than the target reader. Most of these books are about 8 or 9-year-olds talking about their school struggles, normally from third person. The main character should change/grow a little through the book, according to the problem that they’re solving.
The plot structure is simple–there’s a problem, it matters somehow, the main character tries to solve it, extra problems are sprinkled in along the way, until the main character can solve the problem. This is a faster pace than a middle-grade or young-adult novel, and there should still be a strong focus on action and dialogue to tell the story.
The themes for chapter books normally center around school problems like friendships and trying to fit in. Just don’t go too deep in these books! Kids are still learning to read.
Middle Grade
Age: 8-12
Word Count: 25,000-50,000 (The sweet spot for the commercial trade market is about 35,000 but some genres, like fantasy, can go over 50,000 words.)
Middle School woes are fun to read AND write about!
Oh, middle school. The worst years to live through, but the fun ones to write about and fill with “what if” questions.
These books normally have a main character that is 2-4 years older than the youngest intended reader. Normally, between 11 & 13. And they have interesting character arcs! Main characters can be flawed and loveable and the secondary characters should start to shine in these books.
The plot will be a 3-act story structure where the main character will need room to fall from grace by really hurting someone, then take the length of the book to struggle to redeem themselves. These books are paced slower than chapter books to make room for emotion and mystery. (If you’d like some help with your plot, check out this article.)
Themes normally revolve around middle school or an event that would be traumatizing to an 8-12 year old.
Although there are no technical language limits, you should still keep your story age-appropriate (Especially if you want to be in schools!). Meaning they might want to get their first kiss, but not have sex or could punch someone in the mouth but not use a weapon or get bloody. This is PG writing.
The basic definition of visual literacy is the ability to read, write and create visual images. It is a concept that relates to art and design but it also has much wider applications. Visual literacy is about language, communication and interaction. Visual media is a linguistic tool with which we communicate, exchange ideas and navigate our complex world.
The term “visual literacy” was defined in 1969 by John Debes, the founder of the International Visual Literacy Association, as:
“Visual Literacy refers to a group of vision-competencies a human being can develop by seeing and at the same time having and integrating other sensory experiences. The development of these competencies is fundamental to normal human learning. When developed, they enable a visually literate person to discriminate and interpret the visible actions, objects, symbols, natural or man-made, that he encounters in his environment. Through the creative use of these competencies, he is able to communicate with others. Through the appreciative use of these competencies, he is able to comprehend and enjoy the masterworks of visual communication.” – John Debes, 1969
Since this definition by Debes, researchers and practitioners have re-defined ever more complex definitions that reflect the breadth of its applications. The term itself takes on different meanings in different contexts and you will therefore encounter new ideas in education, science, graphic design, art, technology, philosophy and so on.
Visual literacy is, by nature, an organic concept that requires us to continually define and re-define its meaning as our world changes. Digital technology has greatly impacted our understanding of visual literacy as we now see children growing up with tablets and computers and what appears to be highly developed visual literacy instincts. But are they instincts, or are they picking up this new ‘language’ as a result of their interactions with digital technologies? These, and many more, are the questions that we ask and explore on this website. We welcome you to put forth your own definition of visual literacy so that our collective knowledge can continue to inform progress in this important field.
Early readers (5-7)
Older age group
Questions from the brief:
Are the target age brackets for children really as clear-cut as we’ve made them here?
The target age brackets for children don’t exactly fall into the target age brackets, there are some overlap; for example a 5 year old can be classified as a pre school reader (3-5) or a early reader (5-7).
How did the function of image and text differ within the different age groupings?
The difference in literacy level and visual sophistication between the book band are very large, for example word “journey” in a younger reader might be interpreted as going on a trip, where as in older readers might be an spiritual journey.
What is your response to the idea ‘all children’s illustration has bright colours’?
Based on my research, the books for pre schoolers and early readers are very bright and colourful. Probably the reason for that is to attract children. However as the age goes higher the books are not necessary bright and colour and the concentration is mostly on texts.
Self – reflection
I started by making different Pinterest board of children’s books for each age group. Then used early readers and older age group to brain storm around; Festival – Scary – Wild – Growing – Journey – Sad – Family – Discovery. My chosen animal is penguin after my 6 year old obsession to penguins. For early age readers, I chose family, sad, festival and scary and for older age group, journey, growing, festival and scary to create my character around them. I wanted to choose a same animal for both age group. It could be a two brothers in two different age groups or one character that grew.
I used acrylic brushes and textures on Procreate for my design. I just used the given keywords to make my characters.
I feel that my designs could be more creative and I could use a bit more imagination to create them (something that I’m not really good at). They probably look a bit more appealing if I could add a narrative to them.
Produce a series of illustrations for packaging to be used for a new range of organic biscuits for children. There are three varieties in the range Raisin, Choc Chip and Ginger biscuits. The client specifically wants three illustrations featuring extinct animals interacting in some fun way with a biscuit to be used on the boxes. The drawings should be in full colour, and the client would like the colours to reflect the ‘flavour’ of the biscuit. Go to the shops and research the market. How will you stand out amongst the others? As it will probably be an adult who makes the purchase, you need to decide whether you will exploit ‘pester power’ or appeal to both adult and child. You may want to develop characters suitable for young children or employ a style of drawing to appeal to your all your audiences. You also need to decide whether you will have hand-drawn or ‘straight’ typography. You need to submit all stages of the development process – thumbnails, visuals for all three designs and a mock-up for at least one.
Keywords:
Produce a series of illustrations for packaging
New range of organic biscuits for children؛ Raisin, Choc Chip and Ginger
Featuring extinct animals interacting in some fun way with a biscuit to be used on the boxes
Colours to reflect the flavour of the biscuit
Research the market
Submit all stages of the development process; thumbnails, visuals for all three designs and a mock-up of at least one
I took a photo of some children’s food packaging at my local supermarket. I looked at the characters on the packaging as well as the colours and typefaces.
Packaging brief
Thumbnails
Based on my Pinterest boards and my photos from the supermarket, I made my thumbnails of a dodo, which is an extinct animal.
Sketches
From my thumbnails, I chose three dodos for my design.
Colour palette
Based on three pictures of three cookies; raisin, chocolate chip and ginger, I made my colour palettes.
Design process
Using Procreate, I made my designs. The watercolour brushes and watercolour textures have been used.
Final designs
Mock – ups
Self – reflection
I think that the final designs are covering all the aspects of the brief. The subject is an extinct animal (dodo), the colours and the Typograph are appealing to both parents and children.
I couldn’t find a suitable packaging mock up for cookies, I think my packaging is more suitable for crisps than cookies. However it looks fine enough to show the effect of the design on the packaging.
I chose my extinct animal based on my research on my Pinterest boards. I didn’t want to choose a dinosaurs for my design, I thought there are quite a lot of dinosaurs on children’s packaging. As the brief was asking to choose a cute extinct animal, in my opinion, the best option was a dodo.
Begin by taking each pair of words in turn from the list below and writing them in your own handwriting. Big Small Fat Thin Fast Slow Fun Boring Calm Mad Now write each pair of opposites in a way that is descriptive – use the shape and size of the word and the relative position of the letters to express the meaning of the word. A fat ‘F’ may look different to a thin ‘F’. Write the words in both upper case and lower case. Turning to your computer software, scroll through the fonts and select one that suits your word. Reflect the qualities you were seeking to express when hand-drawing the word. Be conscious of the roundness or pointedness of a letter form. Note whether it’s serif or sans serif. It may help to type the word several times in different fonts and make a direct comparison between them. Print off the words in the typefaces you’ve selected in a size that reflects the meaning of each word. Your ‘fat’ word may be much larger than your ‘thin’ word, for example, and each may be in a different font. Trace the typeface in pencil using the colour that best communicates its meaning. Use a moodboard to explore other media qualities which communicate the meaning of your word – consider texture, line quality and colour combinations. Draw your typed words freehand using a pencil and then render them using materials, media and colour appropriate to their meaning.
Keywords:
Taking each pair of words in turn from the list and writing them in your own handwriting
Write each pair of opposites in a way that is descriptive
Select a font that suites the word and print off
Trace the typeface in pencil using the colour that best communicates it’s meaning
Use a moodboard to explore other media qualities
Consider texture, line quality and colour
Draw your typed words freehand using a pencil and then render them using materials, media and colour appropriate to their meaning
Sketches
I sketched some words based on the meaning of each word.
Font selection
Then I chose some fonts from my Adobe fonts collection, that I thought they would represent each word.
Mood boards
Final designs
Self – reflection
I tried to use my mood board to produce my final designs. I added some textures related to each word.
My selection of typefaces are included sans serif, decorative and hand written typefaces. The reason to choose each typeface was entirely related to my feeling about the possible relationship between the typeface and the definition of each word.
Your brief is to produce three illustrations for a series of books jackets, at the size of an existing travel guide, for the locations Istanbul, Helsinki and Milan. The client would like you to create illustrations in which many elements are brought together in a diagrammatic way. They would also like the type to be hand-drawn in an appropriate style. There are an infinite number of permutations available within this brief and therefore a high degree of flexibility. Write yourself a brief that is challenging but manageable. Be aware of the processes which have so far led to your development in ideas generation, visual research, image construction, understanding contexts and media usage. Use worksheets and sketchbooks to explore the problem you set yourself and refer to examples of work which solves similar types of problems. Provide client visuals for all three covers and a mock-up for one.
Keywords:
Three illustrations for a series of books jackets, at the size of an existing travel guide
Type to be hand drawn
Flexibility
Write yourself a brief that is challenging but manageable
Be aware of the processes that have so far led to your development: ideas generation, visual research, image construction, understanding contexts, media usage
Based on my research, I chose some landmarks from each destination and made my thumbnails around them.
Line visual
Designprocess
I decided to use Procreat for my design and creating watercolour effect by using watercolour brushes and texture.
My chosen colour palette was inspired by the country’s flags. Also including the flags in the background.
Finaldesigns
Mock ups
Self – reflection
After reading the brief, I thought this exercise would can be very broad in terms of subjects and media, So I decided to concentrate on few elements; landmarks, flags and handwritten title.
I wanted the layout to be landscape to make it a bit different from other travel guide books.
I researched about the given destinations. I wanted to have a cohesive visual language through all three guidebooks. I came up with the idea of combining the flag and the landmark for the final design.
Based on my tutor feedback, I tried to add more textures to my design. I know that I need to try to take more traditional approaches as well as digitals. I’m going to push myself to make my designs traditionally more often to make it balanced.
Buy a newspaper with a supplement and go through cutting out any article that contains an illustration. Notice the heading for each article and read the text that the illustration refers to. Make a mental note about the way the illustration relates to the text, how its ideas relate to the meaning of the piece, how it extends the content of the piece. Analyse the type of illustration – is it decorative, conceptual, informational? Does it use metaphor to convey an idea or does it have a narrative base? Is it representational, abstract or diagrammatic? Now imagine that you’ve have been commissioned by the paper to create an illustration. Your task is to provide a visual interpretation of one of the headings below: How green is your food? The best restaurant in town. Loves me, loves me not! Throwing your money away The object of my desire Finding your family history An interview with Melvin Bragg Paris, still the best place on earth You may find it useful either to find some text that suits the heading or write a few sentences yourself. Your interpretation can be as personal or as open as you like. For example, you may decide to go and draw an object or place or situation – or your might decide to create your image in a more interpretive or conceptual way. If you’re confronted with several hundred words of text to illustrate you may find it hard to identify key areas of focus. Approach the task in a series of stages. Start by reading the article all the way through to get a sense of its entire meaning. Try not to think about your visual interpretation at this point. You might find it useful to sum up the article in a short series of sentences. Next, go through the article with a highlighter pen and identify sentences and words which you consider to be important aspects of the text. Be conscious of connections between these words and the way in which one aspect of the text relates to another. If you’ve been given a heading by an editor, that might point you in the direction of the aspects that you’ll need to respond to in your illustration. Finally, read the text again with a sheet of paper to hand and sketch down ideas as you read through the article. Don’t draw self-consciously. Enjoy the process of visual brainstorming and be open to whatever results from it.
Keywords:
Buy a newspaper and cut out any article that contains an illustration
Notice the heading for each article and read the text that the illustration refers to
Analyse the type of illustration
Provide a visual interpretation from the list of the article headlines
Find some text that suits heading
Your interpretation can be as personal or as open as your like
Identify sentences and words which you consider important
Sketch down ideas as you read through the article
Don’t draw self consciously
Make a list of words that describe the illustration you want to create
Identify what the function of your image will be
Be thorough within your processes of ideas generation
Create a line visual
Identify a palette and medium
Explore several colour variations
Translate your visual into artwork
Note down the types of editorial illustration you related to most positively
The early ideas you considered
The process by which you decided what aspects of the text you wanted to focus on
Pinterest board – editorialillustration
Analysing the illustration
Visualinterpretation
My chosen headline was Loves me, loves me not. I found an article about it:
Guest Column: Loves Me, Loves Me Not (Do the Math)
BY STEVEN STROGATZ MAY 26, 2009 10:00 PMMay 26, 2009 10:00 pm
“In the spring,” wrote Tennyson, “a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.” And so in keeping with the spirit of the season, this week’s column looks at love affairs — mathematically. The analysis is offered tongue in cheek, but it does touch on a serious point: that the laws of nature are written as differential equations. It also helps explain why, in the words of another poet, “the course of true love never did run smooth.”
To illustrate the approach, suppose Romeo is in love with Juliet, but in our version of the story, Juliet is a fickle lover. The more Romeo loves her, the more she wants to run away and hide. But when he takes the hint and backs off, she begins to find him strangely attractive. He, on the other hand, tends to echo her: he warms up when she loves him and cools down when she hates him.
What happens to our star-crossed lovers? How does their love ebb and flow over time? That’s where the math comes in. By writing equations that summarize how Romeo and Juliet respond to each other’s affections and then solving those equations with calculus, we can predict the course of their affair. The resulting forecast for this couple is, tragically, a never-ending cycle of love and hate. At least they manage to achieve simultaneous love a quarter of the time.
The model can be made more realistic in various ways. For instance, Romeo might react to his own feelings as well as to Juliet’s. He might be the type of guy who is so worried about throwing himself at her that he slows himself down as his love for her grows. Or he might be the other type, one who loves feeling in love so much that he loves her all the more for it.
Add to those possibilities the two ways Romeo could react to Juliet’s affections — either increasing or decreasing his own — and you see that there are four personality types, each corresponding to a different romantic style.
My students and those in Peter Christopher’s class at Worcester Polytechnic Institute have suggested such descriptive names as Hermit and Malevolent Misanthrope for the particular kind of Romeo who damps out his own love and also recoils from Juliet’s. Whereas the sort of Romeo who gets pumped by his own ardor but turned off by Juliet’s has been called a Narcissistic Nerd, Better Latent Than Never, and a Flirting Fink. (Feel free to post your own suggested names for these two types and the other two possibilities.)
Although these examples are whimsical, the equations that arise in them are of the far-reaching kind known as differential equations. They represent the most powerful tool humanity has ever created for making sense of the material world. Sir Isaac Newton used them to solve the ancient mystery of planetary motion. In so doing, he unified the heavens and the earth, showing that the same laws of motion applied to both.
In the 300 years since Newton, mankind has come to realize that the laws of physics are always expressed in the language of differential equations. This is true for the equations governing the flow of heat, air and water; for the laws of electricity and magnetism; even for the unfamiliar and often counterintuitive atomic realm where quantum mechanics reigns.
In all cases, the business of theoretical physics boils down to finding the right differential equations and solving them. When Newton discovered this key to the secrets of the universe, he felt it was so precious that he published it only as an anagram in Latin. Loosely translated, it reads: “It is useful to solve differential equations.”
The silly idea that love affairs might progress in a similar way occurred to me when I was in love for the first time, trying to understand my girlfriend’s baffling behavior. It was a summer romance at the end of my sophomore year in college. I was a lot like the first Romeo above, and she was even more like the first Juliet. The cycling of our relationship was driving me crazy until I realized that we were both acting mechanically, following simple rules of push and pull. But by the end of the summer my equations started to break down, and I was even more mystified than ever. As it turned out, the explanation was simple. There was an important variable that I’d left out of the equations — her old boyfriend wanted her back.
In mathematics we call this a three-body problem. It’s notoriously intractable, especially in the astronomical context where it first arose. After Newton solved the differential equations for the two-body problem (thus explaining why the planets move in elliptical orbits around the sun), he turned his attention to the three-body problem for the sun, earth and moon. He couldn’t solve it, and neither could anyone else. It later turned out that the three-body problem contains the seeds of chaos, rendering its behavior unpredictable in the long run.
Newton knew nothing about chaotic dynamics, but he did tell his friend Edmund Halley that the three-body problem had “made his head ache, and kept him awake so often, that he would think of it no more.”
I’m with you there, Sir Isaac.
Pinterest board – loves me loves me not
Thumbnails
Based on the concept which was love, I made couple of thumbnails. Some are more iconic related to the title “loves me, loves me not” and some are less iconic.
Line visual
Design process
Final design
Self – reflection
The analysis of the ‘Sunday times’ was very challenging, as for some examples, I couldn’t see the relation from the first instance. I had to read the whole article to be able to find the connection. The heavy use of illustration in the newspaper, shows the importance of the editorial illustrations.
For my title “loves me loves me not”, it was hard to think out of the box as there are some iconic images related to the concept. I wanted to make something that is still related but not exactly the same as the existence examples.
I used leaves and green colour for my design. I made my design in Procreate with watercolour brushes and texture. Added the hand written notes on the leaves.
Maryam: OCA Graphic Design 