Thanks to all those who've sent me back the tasks set on weds 25th that were to be finished by end of learning week. We've had a wide variety come back - with many different styles and visual treatments.. I thought I'd highlight a couple of them on a post just to help show some of the work done on the task - especially so if the individual chose one of the slightly more complicated tasks to have a go at..
Jack Webster
Andy feedback
Clear
pics, simple but effective annotations, 'kitchen tiling' style
background/backdrop.. I especially love the refs to 'mess tins' and your
little cameo piece at the footer with the tommies eating/having a
banter..
Good quality writing and reflection in support too. You clearly enjoy
the experience, document it well and it helps give you an understanding
of some of the necessary privations of the home front as well as what
can be achieved with simple/few ingredients etc..
Some nice work here Jack that makes for interesting reading.. Well done, well considered, well-actioned as a task..
Sophie Adams
Andy feedback
I like
it a lot Sophie.. Especially so the themed typeface use - helps add an element
of that era I think.. Clear, staged pics used and associated
annotations explaining stages etc. And all from a non-cook as I recall..
Additional thoughts: Especially like the reflection para on your blog where you compare
to the modern day etc - great that it's made
you think like that - can only help you in getting under the skin of
this main module brief I think.. Some nice work here Sophie..
Ally Oliver
Andy feedback
Thanks for that - and well in time deadline-wise too..
That's a lovely quirky treatment of the recipe - which wasn't the
simplest on there either so well done on that score.. Lovely, quirky
type treatment and informal too - giving the format a nice, accessible
feel. Subtle colourscheme with classic spotted tablecloth
in the background too - some nice symbolism built in there.. Your
pictures are colourful and well thought-through. Clear staging backed-up
by clear numbering too. Seems it was a success not just in the making
but the tasting too by the looks of your comments..
A great effort here Ally, your work promises mutch!
This semester's 'live' Gdes2014-3004 Children's Book Design brief was set this week by both tutor Andy and your client Prof. Maggie Andrews, a renowned specialist in the home front in WW1 and specialist advisor on WW1 to the BBC.
The brief was talked-through in some detail at the meet by both tutor Andy and client Maggie. It was explained that it was based around the lives and experiences of those back in England on "The Home Front" during WW1 and that ultimately preferred student outputs would form a downloadable .pdf e-book and worksheets initially for hand-out to schools in the region.
The brief is similar in nature and scale to last year's module brief and requires yr 2 and 3 students studying children's book design to (1) design working concept front and reverse covers for the book (2) a sample recipe/facts/info spread linked to one of the supplied recipes (yr 3's to develop two of these) (3) a sample work/activity sheet to go with each spread designed/developed. There are some secondary design considerations too - but these (if time allows) are to be attempted after the (above) primary wants are developed effectively.
Brief 'Pack' 2015
The brief has taken a few months to develop and all files mentioned in the briefing are located on the right hand side of this blog as a .zip archive labelled "Gdes2014-3004-Brief-Pack-2015.zip". Included in these files are:
1. The Final Brief (.pdf) Updated.
2. A WW1 Children's Resources Document with suggestions of various initial research treatments for the genre (.pdf)
3. A WW1 Recipes and Quick References Document that details historical summaries relevant to the title as well as a selection of recipes from the era. (.pdf)
4. Final Display Board (A2)
There is an indication of what we'd expect to see mounted on your final A2 black mount board for final submission on this module (.pdf). This gives an indication of placement for both the primary and secondary elements mentioned in the brief. Updated file. Updated.
Audio recording
The briefing was audio-recorded too and this is available in .mp3 format on the link below. Please bear in mind that this is a large audio file of 15Mb or more though and may take a moment to open/download on slower connections.
[ Click here for .mp3 audio ]
(You may find it easier to 'right click' and download to your desktop to listen to in an audio app).
Below
are the final submissions for the thursday eve Gdes3004 Children's Book
Design students. Each image is a low res ref image and it
should also have a corresponding short paragraph of details to help
explain the individual student's ideas/aims.
Amelia Hall
No supporting text supplied at submission.
Egle Buliunate
A. The main visual treatments I have used for the Season‘s Eatings are different (chopping board, blackboard and paper) textures and illustrative approach along the cooking steps to appropriately visualise the fun family time when cooking, as well as an indication of sustainability. These treatments I believe are a good indication of the subject.
B. Williams-Sonoma Cooking for Kids and Hugh Garvey and Mathew Yomans The Gastrokid Cookbook were the greatest references for subtle design for a sensitive audience. They have great design, great photos, artwork and display an amazing minimalistic design.
C. The added features in Season‘s Eatings would be possible only if it was an interactive app book: additional information would pop up anytime an ingredient is selected, as well as enlarge in size. In addition, The cooking steps would have a system of enlargement when they are in action, and then moving on to the next step.
D. Any other links that have influenced me were psychology, motoric system at a certain age of children, as well as the examples of the London Book Fair, that has influenced me not to be afraid of distinctive bold designs for children.
George Teale
The main concept is based around Icons for ingredients and directions to reduce wording and make cooking a more visual experience, Clean layout and legible typography for target audience to easily understand, bright and engaging colours, Advice on other ingredients for different seasons, plus storage tips to save pesto for later.
The key pieces that influenced my design is the infographic series ‘Infochef’ by Scott Broadley for his completely different take on how a recipe should be displayed. ‘Hungry?’ a cookbook by Innocent for its clean style and use of colour as well as seasonal tips.
Added features would include animated icons and narrated recipes on eBook version. This would add a kinaesthetic and audio aspect to the book which would further improve the learning experience.
During this module I spoke to teachers and children to best understand how children learn. This heavily influenced my approach when designing this book.
Andrew Heffernan
A. I used a set colour scheme and illustrations that had the colour and the outline slightly askew, i used a multitude if different typefaces and photography, to intrigue and grab the child’s attention.
B. I looked at the use of hand drawn typography and what benefits it had, looking at style and inspiration i design my own hand drawn typeface, i think that these styles of font are appropriate for designing for children.
C. on one spread i have added a feature that allows the user to tear out a piece of the page that is made from seed paper and plant it allowing for a plant to grow and potentially be used in the recipe, on the other spread is a fun game for the child to play, where he/she can make a Mr Potato head face with the selected imagery
D. the module pushed me to step outside of my comfort zone as, my style of design is not illustrative, and i have never had to design for children before, it was a challenge that i found pushed my to become a more creative designer.
Ian Cotteril
The final designs I made for the ‘Sustainable Cookbook’ were created using Photoshop and InDesign, with the two photos of the finished recipes altered on Photoshop to resemble an illustration. This was done using tools like ‘photocopy’ and ‘palate knife’, the purpose of which was to appeal more to young readers interest in book imagery and illustrations.
The layout of the designs was inspired by the ‘Children’s Step-by-Step Cookbook’ by Angela Wilkes, which made me realise that imagery would be the main focus of a Children’s Cookbook, so I tried to make the images of my designs dominate the pages to attract attention. The baby/toddler book ‘That’s not my teddy…’ also inspired me as its additional features seemed to grab more attention from the reader, so I decided to add some features of my own to my book.
This decision was further encouraged by the visit to the London Book fair, where I saw a variety of books with additional features to appeal to young readers of different ages. I later decided to use flip-flaps based on the children book ‘Penguin Small’, as it would not only appeal to younger readers, but it would also give me more room on the page for additional information and imagery.
Karla Thomas
No supporting text supplied at submission.
Joel Meddings
Style
Main
style is information design, I felt this was most appropriate for the
age range and the delivery of the complex ideas and instructions
involved, it also lends itself well to the possibility of app or e-book
adaptation
Inspiration
The infographic book for children, Animal Kingdom book which will be published in April. Illustration by Nicholas Blechman.
The dark, Lemony Snicket
Scanable
QR imbedded in the page which can be scaned and will take you to ither
an external link or to an animation of the pages. Pull tabs for paper
version or interactive hot spots for e-book app.
Matt Rutter
“For the recipe and front cover, I used colourful and eye catching illustrations to engage the children as well as cute a anthropomorphist fox characters which will appeal to the children, set the scene/age range and also catch the attention of the adults.
Books such as Hello Kittie – Sube party, Dora and Diego LETS COOK and Cooking with Pooh all engaged my interest and influenced my style of work. I was influenced by illustrators who use similar styles as mine such as the charming animals of Jamie Oliver Aspinall and the fun colourful cartoons of Abie Longstaff. I also looked at online recipes created using entirely illustration such as Tomek Giovani’s The Egg.”
Keleigh Faulkner
My overall design idea aims to adopt a contemporary style, which is achieved through simple, representational illustrations and minimal text which emphasises the action the user must carry out. Key influences include ‘The great Allotment Cookbook’ which incorporates the use of simplistic design elements and ‘Cook it Together’ which uses simple one-word steps.
My suggested added features include the idea of ‘Big Chef, Little Chef’. Two chefs hats will be included with the book which will give the adult and the child suitable roles which is adopted throughout the spreads; tasks labelled ‘Big Chef’ alert the adult that supervision or help is required as it could be dangerous, whereas tasks labelled ‘Little Chef’ will give the child a sense of independence. I would also include flaps, so the child will be able to interact more with the book to discover the quantities of ingredients required.
Time spent with family members that matched the target age proved to be the most useful task for me. It allowed me to get to know particular characteristics and interests of children 8+ which led to the decision not to incorporate any form of digital or online app, laying the focus on getting children outdoors and taking a more practical approach by growing their own seasonal vegetables!
Owen Diment
The concept behind my design was to create a simplistic and easy to read cookbook suitable for target audience of 8+. I created a family of characters that added a personality to each of the recipes. Having an added concept of cartoon characters helps grab attention and keep the child engaged.
Once the book is created into an app, the cartoon become alive and has specific sound effects. The character gives you the option to have the instructions read out load to avoid making your tablet dirty with touch. There is allows an option for the character to explain fun facts while you go through the instructions of the recipe.
Rachel Hayes
I have used quite a simple visual for this design because I think that it was appropriate for the target audience. I included a character and I included the ‘learning wheel’ idea as in my opinion they will help to keep children engaged with the design.
I have used a range of secondary sources for my design and I also looked into existing books on sustainability.
These ideas were useful because I based my original ideas on both primary and secondary material and these aided my development process to look at e.g. add-ons including the wheel idea.
In this idea I have suggested the add-on of a ‘learning wheel’ and the purpose of this design is to keep children engaged whilst learning how to cook. I also inserted my own character into the design as a narrator to advise children to ‘not touch hot food’ as an alternative ‘Adult Alert’ feature.
The London Book Fair was an influential trip and whilst I was there I was able to record numerous primary sources. On the day I was able to collect relevant sources which have aided my development process.
Sian Lipscomb
For my spread designs I have tried to use a mixture of both photographic images and info graphic elements to see how they compliment each other in a single design. I felt that this is an appropriate treatment to use for this particular age group as they learn best by copying and following people which is easier to do with photographs, however the simplicity of the additional images mimics the cartoony style of images widely used to illustrate animals and objects in their simplest forms.
I used one key reference for the front cover which gave me the idea to use type to form the design of the front cover. I wanted to adapt this style to my cover as i wanted to move away from the typical photograph image that a lot of cookbooks use. The ‘bite mark’ featured in the bottom corner of each page for inspired by an article on creative review and and I used this to influence my design so that it adds to the additional elements and features.
I had an additional stand that helps to support the book when its it use, the swivel tabs that move to reveal an interesting fact, the tabs at the side of the book to help structure the contents in a more logical order, the food mile challenge that encourages children and their families to see how many miles their food has travelled and to become more sustainable next time.
asking children to be in the pictures to make them more relevant to the target audience, user testing my design after they have been finished, editing photographs
Sophie McGough
The visual treatments I have used are; photography so the audience can understand what is happening step by step as well as the written part. Also I have used illustrations to illustrate the main ingredients and characters via the fantasy genre storybook.
Influences were, Quentin Blake’s illustration and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory storybook. Also Annabel Karmel was a big influence to me and the book called The Great Fairy Bake Off.
My added feature was a quiz to be put at the back of the book to challenge the user/reader of their knowledge. When I photographed my nieces for the recipes and final work it made me realise that some of the recipes where harder than others for them to make, that’s why I chose to use both photography and illustration baring in mind my nieces are within the target audience age range (9-10) and that the audience are all different learners, some of visual and some are auditory.
Roxy Beynon
No supporting text supplied at submission.
Anna Williams
A) The idea behind the Eggy bread spread design was to be child friendly and suggest fun shapes that could be made out of the food. To display these designs I made them into Polaroid’s (the photos taken by children) and displayed them on the family fridge with magnets – like children do to show off their artwork they made that they’re proud of. The instructions in both spreads (and cover) are uniform in the sense that the same few typefaces were used throughout The type used for the spread titles is similar to the handwriting of a child and was intended to give the pieces a casual, fun, kids craft- time effect. The illustrations were made in Photoshop in a cute, graphic, child like manner as I wanted the colours to be vibrant and quirky so the instructions wouldn’t become dull. For the cover I used a selective colour palette using the same colours (orange, green, black),they were reminiscent of healthy, organic hues and the black was mainly for the body of text. My intention for the front cover was to build a countryside scene out of vegetables, almost like an illusion. I made paper mechanics by hand in my Soup spread as I felt the recipe was longer and had opportunities to include interactive actions /illustrations. I’ve always thought being able to interact with the page is fun and helps bring another dimension to the product.
B) The books that influenced my work were mainly pop up books , to look at the technical side of it I read some of ‘Pop up Design and Paper Mechanics’ by Duncan Birmingham. I also looked at pop up books I loved as a child such as ‘The Haunted House’ by Jan Pienkowski (in regards to tabs/wheels and flaps). Also ‘The Terrific Teddybear Pop up book’ by Fran Thatcher as I liked her use of pockets on the page holding extra papers/stories.
C) For the eggy bread spread I suggested fun designs and shapes they could make (as well as try out their own). For the Soup spread I implemented 7 paper mechanics. A pan (wheel)of ingredients, a door/flap to show cleaning hands, a knife cutting motion, a pocket with a jug of water to pour out. Also a toaster where a tab pushes the toast up, a pair of scissors with a moveable (up and down) top blade and a crouton template to help shape croutons in the shape of a fish. I thought it would be better (for e.g.) to show a chopping motion with a knife illustration cutting vegetables, rather than just state it. I preferred this method of communication over static imagery, and felt it involved the reader and helped engage with them.
D) I found the London Book Fair to be an interesting insight into the world of children’s books and it was fascinating to see prototypes of books on display.
Below
are the final submissions for the wednesday PM Gdes3004 Children's Book Design students. Each image is a low res ref image and it
should also have a corresponding short paragraph of details to help
explain the individual student's ideas/aims.
Wed PM group, student feedback (anonymous and copied from either blog wording sent or reports supplied):
Student A
"I found the trip to the London Book Fair really interesting and helpful, as it gave me a chance to see a wide range of different books in one space. Each company had a slightly different way of producing their ideas. The developments in terms of digital formatting for books is also interesting as it could completely change the world of publishing as we know it."
Student B
"Designing this children’s cookbook I was able to gain information from the various lectures and visits which helped further my designs. One visit in particular to the London book fair from which I had gained a lot of information of children’s books and especially on e-books which was very interesting, but what I learnt from the fair was the variety of the books and that having added features make the books more appealing."
Student C
"London Book Fair has been a huge learning curve as it allowed me to see the how’s and why’s of children book design. I was fascinating to see how each publisher has carried out a certain style along with how they’ve structured the book to be shown in the best way possible. Some of the added features were incredible, something a child (and an adult) could get lost in for hours. Some of the seminars revealed the results of user testing which has helped me understand children interests and inspirations."
Hannah Wood
I have used a range of media throughout my designs including pencil sketches, digital illustrative painting and digital collage. I used my own illustrative style, yet was inspired by Lauren Child and Pippa Curnik's successful use of textures and patterning. This created a visually engaging, fun and eye-catching spread. Throughout my development I looked into adding an additional seed packet into the design which would have sat in a sleeve, but after development and other considerations I found it more suitable to steer my design towards usage on modern digital platforms such as an E-book. I did however try and keep that factor of 'do it yourself' by incorporating a fun planted carrot, suggesting the children to 'to grown their own'.
Rebecca Hamilton
For my cookbook, I have used a scrapbook style - which is made of various elements compiled together digitally in Photoshop. The illustrations were hand rendered to imitate the style of drawing that would be produced by a child, with fun and scrappy looking backgrounds to highlight the ideas of sustainability through the idea of recycling. I feel my designs are appropriate as they are fun and engaging, with an informal and approachable style and relatable characters to guide the child through the cooking experience.
The works of Beatrix Potter and Asha Pearse have been really influential in terms of helping my character development, as well as me finding an art style for my work to be produced in. Beatrix Potter is famous for her illustrations of animals, drawing them in a anthropomorphic way so that children can easily relate to them. Pearse's work has a kind of collage feel to it, with layers of illustrations added on top of each other and given an outline to produce a 3D effect.
I haven't suggested any added features - but this book could be easily digitalised for ebook format or even developed into apps due to its simplistic design and layout.
Martha Ives
For my project, I was inspired by "Wreck this Journal", a book which encourages children's creativity through personalisation. Other non-fiction books such as "Mission:Explore Food" aided this idea of engaging the children in the book's design. I therefore decided to add interactive added features to the interior of my book. This included games (such as noughts and crosses), activities ("Can you draw the chef a friend?"), quirky did-you-knows told by illustrative characters and a chance for the children to write down their own thoughts about the meal, to get them to think deeper about cooking and food.
My book also aims to educate children about seasonal foods, healthy eating and local foods, which is accomplishes through icons and information.
My visual language was inspired by the "Tom Gates" series by Liz Pichon. These books are very busy, bright and engaging, suitable for a young audience. I created a busy - though structured - layout throughout my design, so that there was lots for children to interact with. With this busy, attractive visual language, the front cover would stand out amongst competitors.
Leigh Kelly
My conceptual designs for The Moon Is Made of Cheese (The Family Sustainable Cookbook) focused more on the art of cooking as opposed to the sustainable fruit and vegetable elements, as research led me to believe this was the least used method of composition and character development. And so would set me apart on the shelf. Instead i incorporated the use of a many armed chef, complete with all of the utensils the children would need to complete the recipes, within the double page spreads. I felt this would be much more appealing to them, and they would subtly learn about sustainable living as opposed to knowingly going into a topic they may otherwise perceive as boring.
I was influenced in the minimalistic style by the Paddington bear cookbook. Instead this featured the recipe at a small type scale with the character coming in periodically over the pages, caught in a snapshot frame of him actually making the recipe as per the method. After the session task, i felt this minimalistic style worked a lot better in terms of composition and engagement. From my User testing, this also proved to be accurate.
Added features include the invitation to write across the pages to tailor the recipes as to the childrens specific tastes and preferences. This is a spin off of the Keri Smith book, 'Wreck This Journal' and engages children in a method they are not generally used to. I also incorporated the use of ringbinding to ensure the pages lie flat when opened up with the addition of them being easy wipe, so there is no fear of the book getting ruined in situ.
Jaspal Kaur
I believe I have used visual treatments in my front cover designs, by the fun and bright colours used for the vegetables and fruits on the cover and back. My book cover designs are appropriate for children 8+ as it gives a healthy vibe and with the bright colours it makes them want to read the book. Again I have used a number of visual elements in my recipe page designs from the hand-rendered images to the fun colours.
From my research I had come a across many books that inspired my ideas but one in particular that inspired my design for my front cover was ‘Garden to Table’ by Katherine Hengel, because of the front cover that has vegetables placed under a plate which I found effective so I used this inspiration to create my on vegetables and fruits to create a type of border for my front and back cover. Another part of my research that inspired me in my designs was during the London book fair where I came across ‘Junior Chef’ that supplied the children cookbook ‘Kids can cook’ and also an apron, a hat and a spatula, seeing this I found that children would love this so for my design I wanted to add a feature which was the small pack of crayons.
In my designs I have created a few added features, on the recipe pages I have added black and white outline drawings of images that relate to the recipe that the children can colour in to make the book their own and because of this I will add a small four pack of crayons to be supplied and sold with the book. Another added feature is again to each recipe page, I added a small flap to each page that contains information’s of where the ingredients of my recipes were available from local to me, which will hopefully inspire the children to want to get their ingredients from local sources. I believe these features work very well as they provide entertainment for the children and also necessary information.
Chloe Easterlow
The visual treatments take the form of a traditional sketches around the story/recipe of choice. I have used a illustrative approach to my visuals to create a feeling of child objectification. This meaning that the target audience can interoperate the spreads as they feel necessary.
Goodwin, P (2008) is one of my main references as it gave me knowledge of how children look at publications and what is necessary to be included in the book. Also another reference that informed me of designing for children was a book by Withrow, L and Withrow, B L (2009).about illustrating children’s picture books.
My added features include a poem throughout the story and also small games incorporated into the spreads. A small version of chew the character mouse of the book is hidden throughout the scenery give the child chance to look for him throughout the pages. Also the way that the book is laid out, gives the child chance to open up the story with full control of what they want to read first using pull outs.
Matt Blick
I have used a half hand-rendered half vector shaped imagery for the characters and food imagery. The writing is also used in a infant typeface with the new letter shapes of the alphabet used.
The visit to the london Book Fair was definitely a great source of influence as the best in the business were all gathered in one place so it was great to see what can be produced. Other influential sources came from the illustrations of Aurelie Guillerey a fantastic illustrator.
I have used an added feature in my book in the use of a removable shopping list to allow children to engage with adults as they go shopping. This provides a platform from which the adult can explain to the child where their food comes from originally, rather than just the shop as that is where most children believe it does.
In visiting the London Book Fair the innovation on display such as that of Korean publishers 'British Egg', it really puts into perspective of the way the technology is changing the publishing world.
Paulina Lapa
I used different techniques and media to produce my design. For my book cover illustration I used watercolours paints and I added puzzle texture. By adding shadows I made my illustration 3D and look realistic. The design is dynamic and interesting. In my opinion is appropriate for children cookbook as they enjoy them. For the typeface I used Bookman Old Style as I though at the time is more appropriate and works well with my illustrations. By using different colours of text I made my work colourful.
My thinking been influenced by MissionExplore Food illustrated by Tom Morgan-Jones and Elmer by David Mckee. They illustrations are full of colours, dynamic and busy. In my opinion Children’s like when is a lot going on in the book and if it include different illustrations. My creative thinking has been stimulated by use of different colours, materials and illustrations.
I decided to produce a plastic A4 food mat for the children to be able use it after preparing their chosen meal. It also will help to make mealtimes more fun for children. I used the same design as my front book cover as I wanted to make it work with the final composition of my design.
Zoe Luther
I decided to execute The Family Sustainable Cookbook in the theme of a food factory with robot workers preparing and cooking the food recipes and learning about their raw food beginnings. This took the form of metal looking robot arms and a circuit board background with hand-drawn illustrations for the food items. With this quirky theme and loose illustrations the visuals of the work worked well with the sustainable theme.
A key inspiration was looking at the cookbooks of the 70's, for their brightly coloured illustrations that had no outlines but just coloured shapes. They were realistic but also a simplified form of a person or a kitchen tool, this really suits children's books. From this inspiration I chose to draw illustrations that were bright, cheerful and quirky.
Another inspiration for my book was the book "A Jolly Christmas Postman" by Janet and Allan Alberg. I remember fondly and nostalgically how much this book appealed to me as a child, I thrived when reading this for I was able to play the pull-out games and interact with the letters in the envelopes. From this inspiration I implemented an interactive pull-out game that was also educational about where food is sourced from, shown through imagery.
Rachel McCourt
I used seasonal imagery to represent the season in which the main ingredients are grown. For example, grey clouds and brown leaves representing Autumn, and a large sun to portray Summer. I also incorporated paper textures to give a sense of natural sources, and hand-rendered messy style fonts to give a child-like scrap book look.
The key reference for my designs are from Eric Carle's 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar', as I have used a similar 'hand-painted' style for my fruit and vegetable illustrations. I was also inspired by the use of mixed-media in Lauren Child's 'Charlie and Lola' and have incorporated a similar use of textures and pattern.
I suggested the use of added features such as lift up flaps to reveal ingredients lists and educational facts. I also incorporated the idea of a free gift; a sheet of stickers featuring the fruit and vegetables illustrations.
I decided to give my book a 'ring binding' as it would be more durable for children to use in a kitchen environment. The book would be made from recycled paper and would have laminated pages also.
Heather Cutler
Presently waiting on explanatory text to be sent.
Laura Bradley
My designs have been stylised in an informal manner, which I believe would appeal to children. From an early age children are attracted to primary bright colours. The main colour I used were blues and reds, which are strong primary colours and appeal to children of all ages and genders. To complement the textured illustrations the font I chose to use has a similar style, resembling the way chalk writes, to support them in there stage of development the text is simple and to the point. The letters are not joined and similar to the way a child writes.The seasonal cooking page and cookie recipe provide the children with opportunities for independent decision-making.
There were two illustrators that I found particularly drawn to, they were Marjolaine Leray and Eric Carle:
Marjolaine Leray, ‘little red riding hood’ book has a scribbly approach, uses a limited colour pallet that makes the main character stand out and draws your attention to the ‘red riding hood’. The style reminds me of children’s drawings, due to the loose, free nature of the imagery, for me it has a slight connection to graffiti. This child like quality of imagery works well as the illustrator is still able to create expression and body langue and movement with the use of lines, which I think are important quality for a children’s book. This book I think is humorous and designed well, the text goes with the nature of the imagery, as it is not formal and looser looking.
Eric Carle, ‘The very hungry caterpillar book’ uses a textured approach to the illustrations, the images are bright and colourful with a collage look. Due to the way this popular picture book is written I would say it was aimed a children aged 1 – 6, years, the simplistic short sentences on a page with large images would particular appeal to them in this stage of their development. This book to me seems like it would be a good learning tool for children from teaching days of the week, to how caterpillars change into butterflies, their life cycle.
I found myself drawn to the informal style of illustration as find them more approachable and relatable, particularly with children’s positions and objects get worn and messy when used, particularly when it is a cook book. Experimenting, interacting and practicing different tasks is how children learn, I want to encourage this idea with my illustration and overall design of my book.
Maddie Pegrum
The majority of typography is hand rendered, as is all of the illustrations for each instruction. I chose this art style because it creates a more relaxed design that will appeal more to children than a more formal design. The visual elements on the cover are all digitally created, as I feel it creates a strong design that would be strongly attractive on a shelf.
The key inspiration for my design came from research into existing children’s books; illustrations are able to contain lots of detail and so I chose this approach as opposed to photographic images, because it is more suited to the theme of the book. I chose to create my own typography after looking at examples of books that used a more creative type that would suit the art style, and it also ensures that the typography is suitable for children’s reading abilities.
Each recipe spread has a flap that hides the ingredients. The benefit of this is to increased the design area, as well as encouraging child interaction.
A visit to the London Book Fair showcased a wide variety of approached to creating a children’s book, this gave me confidence that creativity is the main ingredient in children’s book design.
Cat Winkles
I chose to use a flat vector style that is simple and easy to understand for children , it was also much more interesting and vibrant to the very ordered layout we so often experience in existing cook books.
A key reference for me was the scouting cook book and its mantra on sustainable cooking.
Have you suggested any 'added features' and if so then how do these work and 'why'.
The added features are used involved a flap which revealed a fun fact and a moveable character to move through the recipe as you carry out each step.
Anything else linked to your experiences designing for children on this module/visits etc, etc.
The London Book fair trip was a big influence for the overall look of my book and the features that I decided to use, I tried to pick appropriate solutions for the age group the book is aimed at.
Kelsey Ellis
I used mostly illustrator to create the work and especially on the cover, looked to using large ‘hand-drawn’ texts that reflected what I felt to look like children’s writing. Choosing to do so, so that the book was not purely aimed towards the parents buying for the child, and so the child wanted to pick it up in a store and want to learn. I aimed to use a combination of text, image, 3D and hands-on approaches in the book as during my work placement in a school I found that there are many different types of learners and I wanted to have something for every type in the book. I tried to create my own version of video games and comics books that merged with nature, to bring kids from their TVs and into nature whilst still getting the experiences that they feel TV allows them.
The Graphic Design Cookbook and the Comic book found in the London Book Fair influenced my layouts massively as I liked the idea of comic strip segmentation but didn’t want to quite use it in the conventional way that they had. So therefore, I added colours and used the square shapes as my background, where as I used a variety of thumbnail ideas that the Graphic Design Cookbook showed to create the other layouts and shapes.
I decided to use added features throughout the book, as cooking is a very hand-on hobby any, so adding more can only enhance the senses. I chose to incorporate the instant camera as this feature alone could enhance the child’s learning through sight and curiosity. I then chose to add features inside every recipe, as it could not only then work well in card-copy format but also as an E-Book. This again, provides the child with activities about not only food but specifically the recipe their making and shows them the entire process of how they get and finish their food.
Key initial influences that aided my designing process were the workshops that I was currently running in a school, using the layering of paper to create images. Using the idea of graphics in touchable form. (Image 1) I used this experience to influence how I designed the fruit; it used the same ideas as the work in a classroom. I was also influenced in the London Book Fair to use games or quiz in the book by ‘Brain Box’ a new and upcoming series of book games and tools of educating. They used a even combination of illustration and text to inform the learner which I thought could be suited to the age range and topic they were learning.
Ryan Broome
I used a digital vector illustration technique that uses a variety of colours to grab the childs attention. Appropriate as colourful books will appeal to children.
Aniesa Holmes vector illustrations influenced my final thinking but for my initial thinking Eric Carles use of simple shapes building up imagery influenced my designs.
Using interactivty in my designs such the secret notes which allows the child to score the recipe and add there own thoughts allows them to communicate with the book, and the ebook interaction are appropriate as it gets the user further involved with the book.
I found the London book fair trip very inspirational as it allowed me to see new innovative ways of book design as well and admiring a variety of clever illustration and photography techniques.
Aida Kulieste
Presently waiting on explanatory text to be sent.
Polina Litvinova
Photography – The use of real images to help children understand how certain objects and ingredients look like.
Colour – Bright and bold. Making the recipes seem fun to make along with catching their attention and standing out from the competition.
Cut outs – Adding more dimension to a book. Something for the kids to play around with.
Interactivity – Making sure the children are focused on the task and are encouraged by visual and physical elements within the book to carry out that task.
What 2-3 'key' references (other books etc) influenced your thinking and 'why'.
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll – This book has been an inspiration throughout the entire module, based on the illustrations used within the book, the hidden messages and the easily read text that make Wonderland truly alive.
How children learn by John Holt – Made me realise there is a lot more to children’s books along with how they are structured to interact with them. Children learn best whilst having fun, which made me think that fun should be interpreted within this brief and conclusive work.
The Psychology of children – An insight of how children function, in terms of their interests, attention span, the way they learn and so on. This has been extremely useful as it made me interpret the information learned about children along with the best ways of communicating with them through books, imagery and interactivity.
Stickers – I was added stickers to my book design to encourage children to use the recipe resolving in an outcome of liking the recipe, or not, and rating it, with a chart at the back of the book indicating Favourite recipes. Encourages kids to try out new recipes and have fun cooking. It’s a game.
Pen – I have added a pen on a string to make sure the kids are able to tick all of the ingredients along with the step by step instructions to help them identify the areas achieved within the process of making the dish.
Shopping list – This is a removable feature as kids can remove the laminated shopping list which can accommodate them whilst shopping and getting all of the ingredients required for the recipe.
Laminated pages – All of the pages within the book are laminated due to messiness of having to cook a meal. Kids can easily wipe the book clean of all spills and marks made ready to be used again without getting upset of ruining the book.
Megan Feeley
My visual work is a result of understanding the brief, designing for an age specific audience has proven interesting yet challenging. Added features inclusive of my work are games, and encouragement to get children outside to grow their own, the spreads encourage both boys and girls to cook as the designs are unisex in colour and choice of recipe. The natural colour palette reinforces the idea of home grown, sustainable food, and where it comes from. A key reference I used was Roald Dahl's Revolting Recipes, a creative answer to encouraging children to cook, the recipes were named according to a previous novels character, this gives a child an automatic relationship with the book. Another key reference was RHS Grow Your Own for Kids, the layout and graphic style were inspiring and the use of photography showing each step-by-step process to take when growing your own, was an aid to development of my own inside spreads.
Lizzie Vallance
I have used water colour instead of block colour to build up a texture in the background. I have also used two friendly faced characters for the user to have as a guide through the book, to feel like somebody is reading to them. I have also used added features to make the book feel more interactive.
I used STARTING FROM SCRATCH What You Should Know about Food and Cooking. by Sarah Elton , illustrated by Jeff Kulak. I took inspiration in this book in the way they give the user random facts along the way. Which keeps the book interesting and gives it an identity so people always look for the character giving the facts on the page.
Fiona Holmes Wonderland literacy programme.
I loved how this book was education whilst telling a story with illustrations, therefore I took reference from this book throughout my design.
(Influences) The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
The simplicity of the timeless illustration inspired the way I designed my characters.
I have used a puzzle where the user is able to build there recipe to see what it is going to look like whilst there food is cooking, this can excite the user and keep them entertained along the way.
I have also created a type of image assotiation quiz in the book to help the user learn about where there food is coming from.
Great research trip today to London for students on the Gdes2001 Graphic Information Design module along with the third year Gdes3004 Children's Book Design students..
Second years were asked to analyse and document wayfinding signage in the capital and it's effectiveness to tourists/visitors and third years undertook a research task based around new developments in Children's Publishing at the London Bookfair at Earl's Court..
Student feedback on route back to Worcester suggests all had a (busy but..) good day - and all for a tenner each!
Andy feedback
