Category: Work In Progress

As the landscape was developing I began to add more elements to the double page spread to make it more energetic and exciting for the demographic as well as developing the profession outlook of the page and the setting.

With the monochrome theme which I took, it made it easier to set out the page and divide it up amongst the double page spread. I knew how I wanted the page to look, as well as it having the crease in the middle of the design so nothing important should be placed here. As you can see, the tree trunk/bridge that bends over the gap in the landscape divides up the setting adds a slight perspective to the illustration, while allowing the design to have a flow. Above this in the empty blue space is where I think that I will place Nessie as she will be easily recognised in silhouette form, while having the text placed over the dark mass on the right hand side to divide it up slightly.

Progressing onto the colour palette and design which I am incorporating into this design, I changed the colours and style of the layers to see how I could add more of a perspective as well as making it obvious that it is underwater without it being too overpowering. I used a fade for this, having the dark shades of navy and black so that it stayed to the general palette of the whole book. But, with this it created a subtle contrast between layers- however, making the illustration extremely dark. I didn’t mind this because this is the stage of Nessie’s realisation of depression as she is running away from her monsters so it fits the lines of the narrative; however, I will continue to develop the palette so that it is suitable for the young target audience and capture their imagination while reflecting the style and theme also.

As with the previous development above, I played around with a few different colouring techniques and styles to find out what worked best for the style of this double page spread. Whereas the last design was a lot of monochrome colours as well as having lowered the opacity of the background so that the blue wasn’t as bright too. Though, on this page I went back to the original background to see how it would work when the foreground illustrations are in a different tone. I chose a darker black and navy fade on some of the forefront layers because this juxtaposes against the dark background and gives me more scope to crete a perspective. On top of this, I refined some of the layers and altered them slightly to fit the surrounding more. I’m happy with how this colour palette has developed for this page because it is bold and distinctive, and with Nessie now placed as a silhouette it makes her look connected to the darkness (which is a visual representation of her struggling with her mental illness) as well as helping the illustrative flow of the design work better.

In a further refined version of this double page spread, I continued making more layers and slightly developing the contrast of layers juxtaposed against each other. I added more detail into this because of the density and darkness of the page so that it would still be interesting for the target audience. Furthermore, the composition of layers allowed me to experiment with the layer juxtaposition and shading of these. Because of the difficult lighting in this scene, I used slightly subtler tones within the navy and blacks so that it would till be obvious that they are different layers while fitting the illustration and encompassing the detail that I wanted to include in the design of the page. Thus, with this in mind, I will now begin to add the narrative into the page and polish off the illustration so that it looks professional and publishable.

For my aesthetic that I have now began to develop, I decided to move onto a new page which incorporated more of the sea landscape in the background. I liked the techniques and style that I was progressing with, so with this in mind I went onto produce another double page spread.

The landscape and scenery would be the main focal point in these pages to emphasise the loneliness of Nessie and to reflect the dark/dangerous surroundings that she lives in. I started by having the blue background and began making the assets for the scene. I wanted this one to have more of a perspective, almost-cave like, so that it differed from the previous pages while still being obvious that it is underwater and nautical. I’m not going to describe how I made this as it is obvious that I have used illustrator and produced it by using their tools, but the reason that I have chosen this style is because it makes the design bolder. The definite layers and patterns will emphasise the surroundings and make an interesting aesthetic for the young target audience, while being appropriate for the topic that I am tackling to represent the mood of the narrative.

As shown above, I gradually got the illustration looking more like a landscape with the layers. I chose to have the layers in a monochrome colour palette to begin with as this was easier to set the page out when it came to lighting, and I could also experiment with juxtaposition of tones and see what works best. This will probably change as I go along, but as a starting point I think that it works well. The visuals will not be as dull as they also look right now. I want this page to incorporate a lot of black imagery, but with the amount of detail going into it as well as the silhouette of Nessie which will eventually be placed into the page will emphasise the dark moment in Nessie’s like. By having this physical and visible representation of the darkness of depression it captures the mood really well, and I am extremely happy with how this double page spread is progressing. Moving onto the next stage, I will now begin to neaten up the illustration and professionalise it, as well as developing the scene with the distinct style that I have generated.

As discussed in my previous post, I wasn’t happy with how this double page was developing and I think that it was due to the illustration style that I had already created on this page. Therefore, this post is going to show and elaborate on my development process and how I have now moved onto the illustrations that I have now (which I think suit the style of the book and will definitely be more interesting for the target demographic).

While developing the DPS I reverted back to the original colour palette that looked at the blue and contrasting black with the distinctive green that Nessie has. I did this so that I know what it would look like when she is in the page and to make sure that everything matches each other within the page. The first stage that I did was deleting the black ‘tree’ illustrations that were in the background of the second page. By getting rid of the majority of these it tones down the page a lot, making it look less overpowering while still in-keeping with the style and flow. As this page would have been quite empty without those visuals I illustrated some vines and seaweed-like plants to fall from the top of the page, while Nessie is heading in that direction.

I made the conscious choice to have Nessie smiling within this page. I did this because as throughout the majority of the book she looks scared or anxious, while being in dark surroundings. But one element that I wanted to portray across in this story is that depression is a tough subject to tackle and deal with (especially in children as it goes undiagnosed often), and by having Nessie smiling- particularly on this page- shows that having depression doesn’t mean that you’re always completely down and upset, and that there can be good moments within this dark time too. Adamantly, the narrative is continuing to show her dark journey, but by breaking it up this way I love how it looks and I think that the child audience will like it.

One important element that I have now chosen is the type face. I knew that a sans-serif type will be most suitable for my target demographic, as well as matching with the aesthetic of the illustrations. I chose a style that almost looked cartoon-like, but it was still readable and appropriate for the style of the book. For some of the important words in the sentence I decided to change the colour of these and make them distinctive in an altered type face. This was in the sans-serif style, but it was bolder and divided up the sentence nicely. Overall, I am very happy with the type face that I have used for the narrative and I think that it will suit the remaining pages of the book too.

During the last stage of the development I decided upon, again, changing the colour in the background. I thought that by having different shades and colours to represent the mood as well as keeping it interesting for the target audience would be a better option for the book. Therefore, I decided to make this double page spread in a green tone which slightly matched with the palette of Nessie. Because of the lack of colour on this DPS this subtlty of colour works really nicely with the aesthetic, while keeping it eye-catching and continuing the design from the previous pages as well. Now that I have made these tweaks and finalised this double page spread I am happy with how I am progressing and I think that my book could turn out nicely and professional- and still appeal to the young audience.

As with the previous aesthetic that I have began to develop I wanted to incorporate this into a continuous design throughout the pages, without the darkness and density of the black being too overpowering.

In the first progress image I decided to build upon the black to see how this would work working this way around. In comparison, this makes it look extremely overpowering, though it could work for this page as it is further on in the book so it fits with the theme and ever-darkening aesthetic. The design, obviously staying with the nautical theme because of the underwater setting, was illustrated with more of an aesthetic that suited the dark theme to essentially look  ‘creepier’ while continuing to be suitable for the young target demographic. The blue broke this up, and as this was only the beginning of the page I knew that there was still a lot more to do with the juxtaposition of the colour palette as well as elements to make the page flow and have a distinctive design.

As I developed the design I realised that maybe the blue was too distinctive against the black and I didn’t like the contrast against these two bold colours. Thus, by lowering the opacity and developing it into more of a darker shade of grey with hints of green and grey it complements the black better. However, I wasn’t happy with how the illustration was developing because I thought that it looked slightly boring and didn’t suit the previous style of the book. The first page has a completely new design that encompasses an illustration that almost looks cave-like. I really liked how this looked because at this stage of the narrative Nessie is extremely lonely and wants somebody to accept her, while also thinking that she, herself, is a monster. By having this as a silhouette that blends into the background the design seems more sleek and suits the continuation of the visuals. On top of this, with the smaller background layer to add depth makes it more visual and, hopefully, more interesting for the audience (though, I understand that at the moment it is very dull for the audience in terms of colour and illustrations as it is a work in progress).

With the previous development I changed the colour palette to work in harmony together, but in the above on I have quickly experimented by altering the background layers to have a subtler black to fade. I love how this works on the first page because it adds further depth, while working with the aesthetic (though still looking dull). On the second page I continued to continue the development of the fade to black, but as I was doing it I realised that he illustrations (at least most of them) on this page didn’t suit what I was trying to achieve. When I first glance at the page it reminds me of trees or a forest whereas I am looking to achieve an underwater scene that looks eerie and lonely. Thus, by coming to this conclusion I have decided to develop this page’s illustrations so that it is suitable and continuing with the style that I have developed so far.

As per my previous post, I wanted to combine the typography into the design and see what the options were when it came to this. I knew that the previous typography which looked hand-written wasn’t suitable for my demographic, however, as displayed below I think that it suited the style of the illustration.

Instead of having the typography in two straight lines I had each word on a separate layer so that I could organise them to make it seem as if they were flowing with the fish. As well as this, the slight curve that it has works with the texture and background of the sea to create continuous directions and shapes. I kept the typography black because this was the best option as all of the visuals have been black on this page and I’m pleased with how it turned out. I am still worried about the readability of this type so I am going to gain feedback from several people to see if I should change it or whether or not is is okay due to the duality of audiences and how the parents would be reading the story to their children.