Category: Work In Progress

I really loved how the black silhouette design worked on the previous design, and although it can be an overpowering colour, I wanted to incorporate it into this double page spread as well. Throughout the rest of the book I will probably have a few dividing pages that separates the black, while still including small amounts so that the aesthetic is continuous and it has a distinct style.

For this page I knew that I wanted to make it enhance the environment which Nessie lives in, and by making a sea scene that was obviously underwater with other fish and creatures I knew that I could produce this with an appealing aesthetic. With the defining black shapes this would make the fish flat and solid, so on this double page my goal was to make it seem like a perspective, as hopefully I have achieved.

Because of this I couldn’t draw one fish and paste it as this would reinforce the flatness of the image, so every fish that is displayed is drawn separately- positioned in place so that I could see how the shapes and fish developed as well as seeing where I need to improve the illustrations. I am extremely happy with how this has turned out because it is a bold image and I think that it works with the design flowing over the two pages, as it continually reflects the narrative and it looks interesting for the audience.

I continued to develop the illustration so that it looked more like a finished product and so that I could see how it would work if it was really a page in the book. My favourite component is definitely the simplicity and execution of the fish swimming away from Nessie because the black shows that it could be anyone as they don’t really have an identity; but continually with this Nessie in now in the same colour because she is the same as them and she only wants to make friends. The black also reinforces the themes which I am tackling, and with the strong contrast of the palette, as well as it being simple, I think that it works really well for this style of illustration. Despite it looking simple there has been a lot of work go into this double page spread because it took me a while to decide upon a composition that flowed and worked for the two pages, as well as making the stylistic choices and placing of all of the components. I am very pleased with what I have produced here and now I will continue to develop it with the typography, and maybe play around with colour to see how it looks on this page.

I didn’t think that the narrative was working for this page as is didn’t read right. With the narrative that was on the previous page (as this will be a double page spread) I decided to make it rhyme because this would appeal to the young audience better and, essentially, adapt the reading and style of the narrative. This didn’t develop much from what it originally started off as, and by adding the word ‘hiding’ it flowed better but I had to make the text smaller which would make it even harder to read. However, it still didn’t rhyme like how I wanted it to do so I decided upon changing this line completely to fit this.

One other development I made in this page was making the eyes black and white. I liked how the red/orange eyes juxtaposed against the background but this tone blended into the illustration better and it was subtler too, which is what I wanted to achieve. Altogether I am happy with these two pages of illustration and I think I have progressed greatly in order to achieve a professional outcome.

The page above denotes the changes to the narrative that I made to make it rhyme. I decided upon the line ‘hiding away in a dark, dark place’. This read a lot better with the previous line on the opposite page, and it still portrays the message that I wanted to get across as well as it linking to the illustrations around it. Adamantly, I know that the type is smaller now and the readability wasn’t the best in this typography style, so I will continue to hunt for an appropriate type face that can work for the whole of the book; but I am happy with how I have refined these pages and I’m looking forward to continuing with the remaining pages within the book to experiment more and create something professional.

In addition to the silhouette page which I have developed in the previous posts, I decided to make the page beside this so that the design would be a double page spread. As the page before it incorporated a heavy black aesthetic I continued this onto this page too, however, keeping it more simplistic so that it wasn’t too overpowering. Instead of the majority of the page denoting the blue, sea background I chose to use the black because it creates mystery and represents the contentious subject that I am illustrating, as well as it still being interesting in visual terms.

Within the darkness I illustrated a pair of eyes. This was a conscious choice because the narrative says “away from peeking eyes” but I also thought that it could slightly break up the dense black too. When illustrating the eyes I made the choice to have them in a red/orange tone because red eyes are stereotypically associated with evil, plus this was the only component of this colour so it made them stand out even further; especially against the black background.

From the typography on this page I went back a step to change it all together so that it was easier to read. I prefer how it reads when it is laid out like, but I still fell like the readability is an issue for the demographic and they may struggle to read it. However, with this composition it is better and the narrative flows, plus I like how they are all in the same aesthetic. Until I choose a sans-serif type face that is appropriate for this audience I will continue to use this font for the purposes of development because it is still in-keeping with the illustrations.

As per the point which I made for the last page, I also developed this type to flow in one single line too. This is because it reads better, left to right just like the type should be for the english language which is my target audience. It also flows with the illustration of the background. Thus, as I continue to develop the typography and finalise a sans-serif type face I will continue to use this, but I acknowledge that it isn’t suitable for the age of the target audience. I will also continue with the remaining pages of the children’s book to develop a consistent aesthetic. But so far I am pleased with how my book is developing and I am learning a lot as I progress.

As I was happy with how my illustrations and children’s book was coming along I decided to have an experiment with typography to see how I could incorporate it into the design while making it readable for the audience and in-keeping with the aesthetic.

The obvious style for this page was to have it as a black type face to blend in with the background, placed against the blue so that it would still be easily readable. Initially I thought that a sans-serif typography would be most appropriate for the target demographic because of the readability and conventions of a children’s book. However, as denoted above, I went with a different approach with this and decided to use a hand-written type. I loved how this blended into the surroundings, almost seeming like vines yet still being readable.

However, this could be hard for the young audience as they are still learning and it isn’t the clearest to read. Yet, if it was the parents reading this to them they would easily be able to read it too as the juxtaposition of colours allows a bold contrast for the words. My favourite element is how it blends into the scenery instead of standing out too much, and I think it works as a whole; but to make sure it is appropriate I am going to gain feedback to see if it is easily readable.

Because it worked so well on the other page I decided to go back to this page and see how the typography would work here. I do like how it looks and works with the other components, but because every page isn’t going to feature a lot of black I need to find another typography that will work just as well. I’m going to stay down the route of a sans-serif because this is the best for the demographic in order for it to be readable to them, as well as it aesthetically suiting the style of illustration.

I really loved how on the previous page with Nessie as a silhouette looked aesthetically, so with this in mind I thought I would try something else to see if I could progress the idea within another page. So far the silhouette idea hadn’t worked as well as I hoped it would, but I have been influenced and inspired buy a lot of illustrators who use this technique for the surroundings and landscape so I was determined to push myself to make it work.

For the basis of this page I thought I would create an illustration that seemed like Nessie was in a cave, to reflect her loneliness and separation from the world around her. I loved how the black worked, and instead of including it profusely on every single page I thought that I would gradually introduce it as she realises she’s depressed, or limit it and space it out so that it wasn’t as dull for the target audience. However, in this instance I wanted black to be the main, defining colour of the page.

This is the initial illustration that I came up with for the page. I tried to incorporate the elements of the sea into it, including the sea weed and textures that make it more interesting for the audience. As well as this, I decided to keep Nessie in full colour this time because of the dramatic juxtaposition. By doing this, she looks vulnerable and isolated against the surroundings, yet she is still interesting and you can see the worry expressed on her face. I am extremely pleased with this has turned out and I think that with further refinement it could turn into a great page that I can actually use within my children’s book.