Pitch Feedback and Evaluation of the Module

Feedback 

I think that my pitch could have gone better. I wasn’t quite as confident as I would have liked to have been when presenting my ideas. From my pitch, its been suggested that I find some books that I find funny so that my book doesn't come across as sinister. Also, to have more examples of how my work is going to look and how I want by book to look, to many create a dummy book. 

Evaluation of the module 

At first I was worried and apprehensive that the time given would not be enough for me to think of a solid idea that I would be happy with and enthusiastic about to carry on. However, I think that with having a short deadline pushed me towards thinking of ideas so I now have a pretty solid basis to start on with my final major project.

I think that the tutorials were extremely helpful in giving me confidence to go and pursue my ideas and gave constructive criticism that would ultimately make my work and ideas better. 

Pitch

After all my research, I have decided that I am going to create a children's book on children's fear of the dentist. My idea is that a schoolboy Timothy is off to the dentist after his day at school. He has no worries before hand but after speaking to his classmates, they start telling him of this scary and horrible woman. I want to show the ridiculousness of their ideas of the dentist, that its nothing to fear at all.

This is Lizzy's peer review of my idea: 

Keira will be producing a creative and tasteful children’s book taking inspiration from the work of Tang Yau Hoong. Her illustrations will incorporate bold shapes and colours that take on a negative space style, reflecting the theme of social issues that children may have to deal with on a day to day basis. The book will be a small A5 size, making it easy to carry and will be encased in a hard back cover to protect the 32 pages of precious artwork and story inside.

This is my peer review of Lizzy's idea:

Lizzy will be producing a wonderful children’s book touching upon children’s anxiety and ways of how they can overcome it. Colouring pencils and watercolour will be primarily used to create the vibrant and creative illustrations that will accompany her story. The book will be square in shape and of a decent size so that the illustrations an story can be easily read and admired. It will be encased in a hard back cover to protect the 32 pages inside. 

Characters 

When coming up with the characters, I wanted the “evil” dentist to be completely over the top and ridiculous. I wanted her to be something that the children envision as ludicrous and something that couldn't possibly exist. To achieve this, I have exaggerated many of her features and made her quite skeletal in appearance.

Timothy and the “normal” dentist I just wanted regular, friendly faces for these characters. Nothing over the top, just average and relatable to the children reading the books. Of course with the dentist, I wanted a friendly face to get the idea across that the dentist is nothing to fear.

Flatplans

Timeline 

1st December: Roughs done
15th February: Final illustrations to be completed
18th April: Book to be completed - this will then give me a week if there are any minor issues

Books and Illustrators I've looked at

Death 

• Grandpa by John Burningham 
• Badgers Parting Gifts by Susan Varley 
• Fred by Posy Simmonds 

Fear

• Can’t You Sleep Little Bear? by Martin Waddell and Barbara Firth 
• The Dark by Lemony Snickett

Grandpa by John Burningham was an interesting book. It illustrates the memories this little girl has had with her grandpa. There is no real order with the memories. The illustrations have quite a sketchy feel to them.

The Dark by Lemony Snickett is very atmospheric, its quite an eerie children's book even though its quite a happy story. The illustrations very simple and because its a book about the dark, there is really very little illustrations as most of the images are almost completely black.

My Ideas

What I want to achieve with my book:

• Relatable 
• Helpful 
• Funny 

Ideas for Narrative (Death)

• Not Human
• As a child things I associated with death:

• Sunbeams as they came through the clouds 
• Feathers falling from the sky
• Rainbows were a bridge to heaven 

• The story to look back at the good memories

Ideas for Narrative (Fear)

• Dark 
• Monsters under the bed/ in the closet
• Dentist 
• Imaginary creatures
• Shadows

Sessions and Feedback

Tuesday 29th September 

After todays session, I have decided on creating a story that focuses on certain issues that may crop up in the day to day life of a child. The two that I have taken most interest in are fear and death. Fear is something that we all feel and in particular, as a child, there are certain ones that keep reappearing. The mains one being a fear of the dark, the monster under your bed or that live in your closet. The idea of doing a children's book on death is seen more as a challenge. I think that it will be interesting to see if I can think of a story that touches up on the subject sensitively.

Tuesday 6th October  

In todays session, I need to get a narrative sorted or if I am struggling to think of my own story, take someone else’s and then create my own set of illustrations to accompany that. I’m still unsure at the moment whether I want the story to touch upon death or fear. 

Merry Cemetery 

After looking through my ideas, my tutor suggested I look at other cultures way of dealing with death and in particular, the Merry Cemetery. The Merry Cemetery is in the village of Sâpânta, Maramures county, Romania. It famous because the tombstones feature paintings describing the life of the person who is buried there as well as maybe a painting of the person. 

This was a nice idea when trying to think of a narrative surrounding death. To depict the happy moments of someones life would be a good approach when thinking of a narrative for my children’s book.

Some examples of the gravestones at Merry Cemetery.   

Kickstarter

When going onto Kickstarter, I was just looking at pitches surrounding art, I didn't really look into anything more specific.

After watching a couple of videos on Kickstarter of peoples ideas, there are a few similarities with these peoples pitches. They each emphasis on how much of an opportunity it would be to get the funding to back their individual projects. It is also clear what they are aiming for so you are aware what you are backing. They are extremely passionate about the work they are doing and this is something that I will take on into my own pitch. I have to be confident in what I am pitching and show that I am fully backing my own ideas. 

However, there were some bad points with some of the pitches. Some kept bringing up the money side of things a bit too much. It took the passion away from their work and seemed they were a lot more interested in getting your money which was slightly off putting. Also, some talked too much and you got to see little of their work. The reason behind backing someone is because you like their work and if you don't get to see it then the pitch seems slightly pointless. 

Initial Thoughts

After reading through the module guide, I knew that I wanted to create a children’s book as it was something I enjoyed in the previous year but didn’t create a book to my full potential or something that I was completely happy with. Even though I was sure that I wanted to create a children’s book for my Final Major Project, I still didn't know what I wanted the focus to be for my book. 

Tang Yau Hoong

Before being given the brief, I was looking at artists who used negative space. After doing some research I came across this artist, Tang Yau Hoong. He is an artist, illustrator, graphic designer living in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He has worked with various clients for advertising, editorial, and many other design projects. 

I really liked the simplicity of his work and the vibrancy of the colours he used. This was something that I wanted to try and incorporate into my illustrations for my children's book. 

Some examples of his work

Cover and supporting illustrations for December 2013 issue of Engineering & Science 

Poster design for CSU Engage