Here's a selection of final second year student outputs for this module in Semester 2. Our brief was set by staff at the Hive Library and learning centre in Worcester City Centre. The nature of the brief was to have students develop 'working prototype' activity and learning pages for a new Key Stage 2 level A4 guide for school visitors to the Hive. The ultimate aim would be to collate the preferred page content together in a final eActivity learning resource that the Hive will then offer-out to regional and local school visitors.
[ Click on any image to enlarge it ]
Iqra Akhtar
Here's Iqra's description of her work:
-- What key research references inspired your final designs and why are these important?
I was mostly inspired by the activities that are found on the back of children's cereal boxes because of how colourful and graphic they are.
-- Why do you consider your page designs and activities for the Hive brief effective for Key Stage 2 Children?
My pages are colourful and eye-catching. I also tried to incorporate different types of activities for different types of learners.
-- What do you consider your most effective/interesting page/activity and why?
My personal favourite the the book review page because of how clean cut it is and the combination of writing and art tasks. I feel like that page is something children can develop on in their own time.
Ethan Brown
Here's Ethan's description of his work:
• What key research references inspired your final designs and why are these important?
The work of Roald Dahl & Dr. Seuss has inspired my final designs because its bright colours and bold characters had such an impact on me as a kid I wanted to adapt the style for my own work
• Why do you consider your page designs and activities for the Hive brief effective for Key Stage 2 Children?
I have done some user testing for my activities and designs and I got positive feedback from KS2 children
• What do you consider your most effective/interesting page/activity and why?
I personally like the design of the front cover because it is so bold and I think the bee character complements the page and starts the narrative
Iona Darroch
Wording to be added soon.
Jess Jones
Here's Jess' description of her work:
• What key research references inspired your final designs and why are these important?
Lauren Child’s talk at The London Book Fair was one of my biggest influences, as she inspired me to experiment with combining hand rendered drawings/textures with digital media. BBC Bitesize was very useful when understanding the vocabulary and visual language appropriate for key stage two.
• Why do you consider your page designs and activities for the Hive brief effective for Key Stage 2 Children?
I feel the activities are effective for the brief as they involve being physical. The children are given the ability to independently explore the library, in order to find certain books/locations. They are learning whilst having fun. The students have to use the information provided by the librarians in the initial introduction in order to help them. By finding the books/locations, this shows that the students have listened and understood the introduction.
• What do you consider your most effective/interesting page/activity and why?
I think my Map activity is the most effective. To a child I think the concept of a ‘treasure hunt’ is exciting and involves a lot of movement rather than sitting at a desk. It is satisfying for the students to tick the boxes to say they have completed the challenges, they have a sense of achievement.
Sophie Ling
Here's Sophie's description of her work:
• What key research references inspired your final designs and why are these important?
I did extensive research looking into all different styles and educational books for Key Stage 2 age groups. Colours from the Hive brief pack are what I based my colour scheme on and I looked into children’s activity books and reading books for special awareness for the page layouts.
• Why do you consider your page designs and activities for the Hive brief effective for Key Stage 2 Children?
they’re full of fun, interesting activities. The colours are exciting and add to the tone of the booklet. The designs are interesting enough to make you want to read them and the did you know; top tips and fun fact boxes add further educational information. The activities are appropriate to what the client wanted and they are activities that they feel will help reinforce what the students learn that day about the hive.
• What do you consider your most effective/interesting page/activity and why?
The type I’ve chosen to use. It’s fun, playful and not intimidating to read. The hand writing style gives a more relaxed approach which I hope would make the child feel more comfortable reading if they’re more apprehensive about instructions and a lot of text. The library scavenger hunt is a good example of an interesting activity. It will get the children exploring the hive, learning how to find the books and the design is interesting with the different types of text which correspond to the genre of the book.
Noa Rakic
Here's Noa's description of her work:
• What key research references inspired your final designs and why are these important?
My final design was inspired by children's picture books. Looking at some of the books I have at home, I always notice artists playing around with different media. Whether it is watercolour, vector art or even sculpting their character. My first thought was to do digital characters with vector art. But as I didn't have success in achieving the desired goal I started to experiment with other techniques. I am really glad I did as the style I went fore is much more suited for the given age group. I used ink and watercolours. The media are similar, but ink moves differently on paper, creating some smudges and different line thickness that makes it more noticeable. Watercolour allowed me to add a bit of dimension to the characters by adding shading.
• Why do you consider your page designs and activities for the Hive brief effective for Key Stage 2 Children?
Unfortunately, I did not finish all my designs and activities, but I aimed to provide children a balanced book supporting most of the information with visuals. So children not only learn, but also have fun learning through games and remember better trough visuals. I intended to include a game where children had to align themselves into alphabetical order by their last name. Not only would this game be fun, but it would also provide children to practise and learn their letters, as well as to get to know their classmates a little more. One of the games I included was a little search game, where the individual has to find the books that one of the characters presented. With this game the children will get to explore the hive, as well as practise their usage of the Dewey Decimal System and using their motor skills.
• What do you consider your most effective/interesting page/activity and why?
I find that the first page (not the cover) is one of the most interesting ones, as here you get to see and meet Dewy for the first time. He cheerfully greets you and invites you to see his home. He is a repetitive character targeting the book and is always trying to be helpful and cheerful, teaching kids about the library and its wonders along the way. The flowers that surrounded him, make him seem even more friendlier. On that page we can also see a little bee. She is Dewys helper and shows the kids fun tasks or important information dewy forgets. All the characters speak to the reader in first person, making it feel more interactive.
Casey Rann
Here's Casey's description of her work:
• What key research references inspired your final designs and why are these important?
BBC Bitesize helped inspire my ideas – my symbol designs for the treasure hunt in was inspired by their icons for their KS2 subjects. I was also inspired by my visit to The Hive and discovering more about how it works and what interaction they have with young students.
• Why do you consider your page designs and activities for the Hive brief effective for Key Stage 2 Children?
The bright colours used would catch their attention and I hope my overall designs will keep them interested in the tasks I have created. I have implemented icon design as often as possible as most young students read through visual images rather than written words, so I have used these icons to help explain visually what it is the activity wants them to do. I have also designed my own typeface to add a more natural feel to the text and to allow the students to relate to a more handwritten styled font.
• What do you consider your most effective/interesting page/activity and why?
I think my front cover is my most well-designed page as the text I have created is a large and bold size to catch the student’s attention, and the bright colours will also engage the students. However, my treasure hunt page is also very eye catching and is the most interesting task for the student to do.
Lauren Shomion
Here's Lauren's description of her work:
• What key research references inspired your final designs and why are these important?
The key research references that inspired my final designs were BBC Bitesize and a children activity book that I collected at The Design Museum. These were important because it gave me an idea for what content and art style is appropriate for Key Stage 2 Children. This included font size, illustrations, and the overall layout as well.
• Why do you consider your page designs and activities for the Hive brief effective for Key Stage 2 Children?
I consider my page designs and activities for the Hive brief effective for Key Stage 2 Children because it includes simple playful illustrations with a consistent theme throughout all pages that will keep the children interested. Also, I created interactive activities that includes a mix of searching for books, drawing, writing, as well as a cut-out activity.
• What do you consider your most effective/interesting page/activity and why?
I consider my most effective/interesting activity/page to be the "Book Creation" page because the children are able to design their own book cover and really get creative. I also included questions at the bottom of this activity where the children will be able to test their knowledge with fiction and non-fiction as well as giving a summary with what their book would be about. I feel this activity brings a fun side to the library/books that may encourage kids to read more.
Will Sheppard
Here's Will's description of his work:
• What key research references inspired your final designs and why are these important?
(Thomas, 2018)
Thomas, J. (2018). These 50 Awesome Book Covers Will Inspire You – And Teach You How to Design Your Own – Learn. [online] Learn. Available at: https://www.canva.com/learn/book-cover-design-50-amazing-covers-you-will-want-to-pick-up/ [Accessed 11 May 2018].
This allowed me to see lots of different methods of composition and how I could change the placement of things drastically and use clashing colours to cause a big effect.
• Why do you consider your page designs and activities for the Hive brief effective for Key Stage 2 Children?
I believe my activities are effective for key stage 2 children thanks to my research into text books and children’s literature. This allowed me to get a good understanding of the vocabulary and depth of their current reading and writing skills to produce activities hard enough to challenge them without belittling or giving them a task, they can’t accomplish.
• What do you consider your most effective/interesting page/activity and why?
I believe its my word search due to its new design using hexagons rather than regular squares which gives the child a different experience, although they are too young to remember hopefully a different and unique design as such may stay with them for longer rather than one they’ve seen 100s of times.
[ Click on any image to enlarge it ]
Iqra Akhtar
Here's Iqra's description of her work:
-- What key research references inspired your final designs and why are these important?
I was mostly inspired by the activities that are found on the back of children's cereal boxes because of how colourful and graphic they are.
-- Why do you consider your page designs and activities for the Hive brief effective for Key Stage 2 Children?
My pages are colourful and eye-catching. I also tried to incorporate different types of activities for different types of learners.
-- What do you consider your most effective/interesting page/activity and why?
My personal favourite the the book review page because of how clean cut it is and the combination of writing and art tasks. I feel like that page is something children can develop on in their own time.
Ethan Brown
Here's Ethan's description of his work:
• What key research references inspired your final designs and why are these important?
The work of Roald Dahl & Dr. Seuss has inspired my final designs because its bright colours and bold characters had such an impact on me as a kid I wanted to adapt the style for my own work
• Why do you consider your page designs and activities for the Hive brief effective for Key Stage 2 Children?
I have done some user testing for my activities and designs and I got positive feedback from KS2 children
• What do you consider your most effective/interesting page/activity and why?
I personally like the design of the front cover because it is so bold and I think the bee character complements the page and starts the narrative
Iona Darroch
Wording to be added soon.
Jess Jones
Here's Jess' description of her work:
• What key research references inspired your final designs and why are these important?
Lauren Child’s talk at The London Book Fair was one of my biggest influences, as she inspired me to experiment with combining hand rendered drawings/textures with digital media. BBC Bitesize was very useful when understanding the vocabulary and visual language appropriate for key stage two.
• Why do you consider your page designs and activities for the Hive brief effective for Key Stage 2 Children?
I feel the activities are effective for the brief as they involve being physical. The children are given the ability to independently explore the library, in order to find certain books/locations. They are learning whilst having fun. The students have to use the information provided by the librarians in the initial introduction in order to help them. By finding the books/locations, this shows that the students have listened and understood the introduction.
• What do you consider your most effective/interesting page/activity and why?
I think my Map activity is the most effective. To a child I think the concept of a ‘treasure hunt’ is exciting and involves a lot of movement rather than sitting at a desk. It is satisfying for the students to tick the boxes to say they have completed the challenges, they have a sense of achievement.
Sophie Ling
Here's Sophie's description of her work:
• What key research references inspired your final designs and why are these important?
I did extensive research looking into all different styles and educational books for Key Stage 2 age groups. Colours from the Hive brief pack are what I based my colour scheme on and I looked into children’s activity books and reading books for special awareness for the page layouts.
• Why do you consider your page designs and activities for the Hive brief effective for Key Stage 2 Children?
they’re full of fun, interesting activities. The colours are exciting and add to the tone of the booklet. The designs are interesting enough to make you want to read them and the did you know; top tips and fun fact boxes add further educational information. The activities are appropriate to what the client wanted and they are activities that they feel will help reinforce what the students learn that day about the hive.
• What do you consider your most effective/interesting page/activity and why?
The type I’ve chosen to use. It’s fun, playful and not intimidating to read. The hand writing style gives a more relaxed approach which I hope would make the child feel more comfortable reading if they’re more apprehensive about instructions and a lot of text. The library scavenger hunt is a good example of an interesting activity. It will get the children exploring the hive, learning how to find the books and the design is interesting with the different types of text which correspond to the genre of the book.
Noa Rakic
Here's Noa's description of her work:
• What key research references inspired your final designs and why are these important?
My final design was inspired by children's picture books. Looking at some of the books I have at home, I always notice artists playing around with different media. Whether it is watercolour, vector art or even sculpting their character. My first thought was to do digital characters with vector art. But as I didn't have success in achieving the desired goal I started to experiment with other techniques. I am really glad I did as the style I went fore is much more suited for the given age group. I used ink and watercolours. The media are similar, but ink moves differently on paper, creating some smudges and different line thickness that makes it more noticeable. Watercolour allowed me to add a bit of dimension to the characters by adding shading.
• Why do you consider your page designs and activities for the Hive brief effective for Key Stage 2 Children?
Unfortunately, I did not finish all my designs and activities, but I aimed to provide children a balanced book supporting most of the information with visuals. So children not only learn, but also have fun learning through games and remember better trough visuals. I intended to include a game where children had to align themselves into alphabetical order by their last name. Not only would this game be fun, but it would also provide children to practise and learn their letters, as well as to get to know their classmates a little more. One of the games I included was a little search game, where the individual has to find the books that one of the characters presented. With this game the children will get to explore the hive, as well as practise their usage of the Dewey Decimal System and using their motor skills.
• What do you consider your most effective/interesting page/activity and why?
I find that the first page (not the cover) is one of the most interesting ones, as here you get to see and meet Dewy for the first time. He cheerfully greets you and invites you to see his home. He is a repetitive character targeting the book and is always trying to be helpful and cheerful, teaching kids about the library and its wonders along the way. The flowers that surrounded him, make him seem even more friendlier. On that page we can also see a little bee. She is Dewys helper and shows the kids fun tasks or important information dewy forgets. All the characters speak to the reader in first person, making it feel more interactive.
Casey Rann
Here's Casey's description of her work:
• What key research references inspired your final designs and why are these important?
BBC Bitesize helped inspire my ideas – my symbol designs for the treasure hunt in was inspired by their icons for their KS2 subjects. I was also inspired by my visit to The Hive and discovering more about how it works and what interaction they have with young students.
• Why do you consider your page designs and activities for the Hive brief effective for Key Stage 2 Children?
The bright colours used would catch their attention and I hope my overall designs will keep them interested in the tasks I have created. I have implemented icon design as often as possible as most young students read through visual images rather than written words, so I have used these icons to help explain visually what it is the activity wants them to do. I have also designed my own typeface to add a more natural feel to the text and to allow the students to relate to a more handwritten styled font.
• What do you consider your most effective/interesting page/activity and why?
I think my front cover is my most well-designed page as the text I have created is a large and bold size to catch the student’s attention, and the bright colours will also engage the students. However, my treasure hunt page is also very eye catching and is the most interesting task for the student to do.
Lauren Shomion
Here's Lauren's description of her work:
• What key research references inspired your final designs and why are these important?
The key research references that inspired my final designs were BBC Bitesize and a children activity book that I collected at The Design Museum. These were important because it gave me an idea for what content and art style is appropriate for Key Stage 2 Children. This included font size, illustrations, and the overall layout as well.
• Why do you consider your page designs and activities for the Hive brief effective for Key Stage 2 Children?
I consider my page designs and activities for the Hive brief effective for Key Stage 2 Children because it includes simple playful illustrations with a consistent theme throughout all pages that will keep the children interested. Also, I created interactive activities that includes a mix of searching for books, drawing, writing, as well as a cut-out activity.
• What do you consider your most effective/interesting page/activity and why?
I consider my most effective/interesting activity/page to be the "Book Creation" page because the children are able to design their own book cover and really get creative. I also included questions at the bottom of this activity where the children will be able to test their knowledge with fiction and non-fiction as well as giving a summary with what their book would be about. I feel this activity brings a fun side to the library/books that may encourage kids to read more.
Will Sheppard
Here's Will's description of his work:
• What key research references inspired your final designs and why are these important?
(Thomas, 2018)
Thomas, J. (2018). These 50 Awesome Book Covers Will Inspire You – And Teach You How to Design Your Own – Learn. [online] Learn. Available at: https://www.canva.com/learn/book-cover-design-50-amazing-covers-you-will-want-to-pick-up/ [Accessed 11 May 2018].
This allowed me to see lots of different methods of composition and how I could change the placement of things drastically and use clashing colours to cause a big effect.
• Why do you consider your page designs and activities for the Hive brief effective for Key Stage 2 Children?
I believe my activities are effective for key stage 2 children thanks to my research into text books and children’s literature. This allowed me to get a good understanding of the vocabulary and depth of their current reading and writing skills to produce activities hard enough to challenge them without belittling or giving them a task, they can’t accomplish.
• What do you consider your most effective/interesting page/activity and why?
I believe its my word search due to its new design using hexagons rather than regular squares which gives the child a different experience, although they are too young to remember hopefully a different and unique design as such may stay with them for longer rather than one they’ve seen 100s of times.
No comments:
Post a Comment