Earth Artefact
Earth Artefact The brief
The Earth Artifact brief is inspired by the 1977 Voyager mission which was launched by NASA. This mission is where a Golden Record was sent into space with snippets of life what on Earth is like for “aliens� and other lifeforms to find and get a glimpse of what life is like on our planet. With this brief the intention is for me to create my personal interpretation of the Golden Record. There are several options for this, one could be to follow the original Record and reproduce the content that is already in place, or take it in a completely different direction and create my own idea. This could be created in any format, anything from a song, to a video, illustration, graphics or photography. To start this I would look into different forms of media and how other artists have manipulated them to create individual and inspiring things to help me gather ideas for my project. These things could be digital, handmade or a mixture of both.
The Golden Record Background research
The Voyager Golden Records are phonograph records that were launched into space aboard the Voyager spacecraft in 1977. There was no planned destination. The Record itself is a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk which contains sounds and images selected specifically to portray the diversity of life and culture on planet Earth. The phonograph records contained an official statement from President Carter, and ‘greetings’ in 55 languages, such as English, Japanese, German and Italian. There were also various noises on the record, such as animal sounds like dogs, birds, elephants and crickets. Also noises like trains, buses, a mother and child and Morse Code. There was also audio samples of music from many cultures and images on the record, a collection of 116 images were used. Some of the images were different planets, DNA structures, anatomy such as skeletons and internal organs, scenery and various animals. The etchings on the record are instructions on how to operate it and its contents, if it is ever found by another life-form. Both records were launched in different directions and on different dates, this was likely to raise the chances of it being found by another life form. Carl Sagan noted “The spacecraft will be encountered and the record played only if there are advanced space-faring civilizations in interstellar space. But the launching of this ‘bottle’ into the cosmic ‘ocean’ says something very hopeful about life on this planet.”
Research Mindmapping
Teenager
OAP
Adult Invasion
God
The Big Bang Theory
How humans evolved
Emotion
Evolution
Age
Baby Planets
Humans
Relationships
Galaxies
Space
Biology
NASA
Aliens
Intelligent life
The Voyager
Space travel
Earth Artefact How/When Earth was created
Human time line
Development
Future
Past
Time
Earth
Evolution
Present
Humans
Earth
Seasons
Plants
Music
Culture
The Human Body
Celebrities
Religion
Idea generation Idea 1 My first idea would be to create an information booklet about alien invasion and how to survive, if another life form had decided to claim our planet for it’s own, it would contain hints and tips on how to survive on Earth for more than 10 seconds. The booklet would be illustrated, in a comic-like style with information on how to survive if the earth was ever invaded. It would be aimed at children and young teens, with amusing titles, bright colours and tips on how to survive such as “Construct an alien costume” which would then include illustrations on how to do that. I would like to make the book interactive, with puzzles to do and things to find, stories etc. To execute this product I would use tools like Photoshop and Illustrator, mapping out rough sketches of my pages and layouts. The comic would most likely be in a childish, imperfect warbled sketch style. I feel that making it colourful and fun-looking would appeal to children and young teens, maybe even adults.
Idea generation Idea 2 My second idea would be to create an infographic about Earth. Because infographics can cover a wide range of topics, it would be easy to pick a subject about the Earth, like humans, the big bang theory, population etc. The infographic design would be clean and professional looking, most likely minimal if I present a lot of information on it. Iconography and pictograms would be the main use of design in the infographic, giving it a clean and minimal look in order for it to be read and interperated easily. Infographics are an easy way to present stats and information in a clean and easy layout format. I think for this project I would create out about the timeline of Earth, laying out the biggest and most relevant information about humanity and our society. I think an issue I could run into with this idea is that there’s so much information to choose from, that getting the right balance between it being “enough information” and “still relevant” could be difficult.
Idea generation Idea 3 My third idea is to create an ‘aliens guide to the earth’ This would either be an infographic or a booklet/guide to document human behaviours and how Earth works in order for the aliens to fit in and live in our society. It would include things like countries, jobs, different types of people, buildings, weather etc. It would help them adapt and live like us. I would document this like the first idea, in a comic or infograph style. I think a comic/illustration would work best for this, due to the amount of information on it. An infograph could look messy if information isn’t split into sections or if there’s too much of it. The outcome would be digitally drawn like an online comic, but it would most likely be a paperbased thing as well as online. A paper based product would be easier to distribute, especially to children.
Artist Research
Artist research - Illustration Scott Benson Scott Benson is an animator and illustrator he works primarily with After Effects, Photoshop and Flash. His work has screened internationally at festivals such as Pictoplasma and Annecy. He is also interested in documentaries and childrens programming, among other things. I like Scott Bensons work because the “The Murf� music video really tied into the Earth Artefact project. His use of textures and typography, as well as simple illustrations and a blend of colours really made his work unique to me. I feel that his style will influence my project a lot. http://www.bombsfall.com/
Artist research - Illustration Patrick Hruby Patrick Hruby is a freelance Illustrator and designer, living in Los Angeles. He has a BA in illustration and “insatiable appetite for colour.” He graduated from Art Center College of Design with a BA in illustration design in 2010. “I draw influences from great mid-century artists and designers like Paul Rand, Alexander Girard, and Charlie Harper, but also sources like 8 bit Nintendo games and botanical gardens. I have always been obsessed with beauty and utopian ideas. I think this is why I am drawn to geometry.” Patrick’s work really appeals to me, mostly because his work uses no visible outline, the images are compromised of vectors put together. I really like the design of his work and I think that his examples will inspire my own illustrations. His work is clean and easy to look at, with minimal detail there’s but still a lot going on in the picture in terms of things to notice. I found work relevant to the Earth Artefact brief, such as the simplistic Earth illustration. This style is what I am looking to achieve with my final piece, to make it easily understandable for children and adults.
http://www.patrickdrawsthings.com/
Artist research - Illustration John Hendrix John Hendrix is an illustrator born in St Louis. John Hendrix graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in Rock Chalk and Visual Communication in 1999, before enrolling in the School of Visual Arts’ “Illustration as Visual Essay” MFA program. Many of his works have been published in places such as Sports Illustrated, Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, Esquire, and Time magazine. Including many more. John’s work has a very unique style, his work mostly consists of sketchbook drawings, but they’re very refined and don’t always look like they’re created on paper. His style is simplistic in some of his work and detailed in the next. I really like the simple comics he does. I feel that his style of work and clean presentation would look good if I tried to reflect those elements in my own work creations. http://johnhendrix.com/portfolio/
Artist research - Illustration Nina Geometrieva Nina Geometrieva is a graphic designer and illustrator working in Singapore. Her work is full of bright and colourful shapes, which makes every piece of her work brilliantly vibrant and full of life. I particularly like her “What Space Really Looks Like� piece, since it ties into the Earth Artefact project well. The angled lines in her work give the viewer the impression that the image is in a moving state, and the glowing shapes helps add the space effect. I feel that these kinds of illustrations would work well in a comic book setting, or as posters/separate illustrations. I feel that this style would really work well in a final piece if executed properly. https://www.behance.net/ninageo
Artist research - Typography Artem Sukhinin I came across this typography artist on Behance while researching, and fell in love with their style instantly. Artem Sukhinin is a London based graphic designer, from Russia. “...Graphic design, typography, type illustration and identity are the strongest aspects of my interests... My work is explorative, investigative and experimental” Sukhinin’s work really stood out to me for a lot of reasons. One being the detail that goes into creating some of his typefaces, like the bottom right image. This letter has a 3D effect implemented, and has a striking amount of effort put into the details, making it look like a piece of earth that’s decaying away. I also really like his bubble writing, especially the pink typeface. The words are situated at an angle, and have certain characteristics to resemble bubblegum, such as the stringy parts connecting some of the letters, and the droop off the ‘e’ at the end. http://sukhinin.com/
Artist research - Typography Matt Lyon Matt Lyon is a London-based artist and illustrator. “My work stems from incessant doodling, often laced with wild colours, shapes and patterns. I’ve worked for the likes of Nike, AOL, AT&T, Microsoft and other lovely people, and my designs have been widely seen in books, magazines and wall spaces.” Matt’s work uses a range of different typographic styles, featuring many colours and many purposes. I really enjoy the ‘freehand’ look some of his fonts have, they’re not polished, in line or the same size. His style is free and fun. Depending on the kind of thing I produce and the target audience, I strive to take inspiration from this kind of style and give it my own unique twist.
http://www.c8six.com/
Primary ideas research
Primary idea research Information booklet Information booklets are everywhere, for every kind of topic, such as health, finances, education, etc. There are many creative and unique ways to present a booklet, as shown by the examples on the right. I feel that my booklet would be best if digitally illustrated, as this would make text and images crisp and clearer with an overall higher quality finish. Developing my book digitally also mean that I can manipulate and change things frequently, but if I hand draw it, the product could look messy and unfinished at the end. I particularly like the middle-left and bottom-right examples, they’re simple and effective, and I enjoy the designs, especially the hand-drawn typography on the two bottom examples. The vectors also drew me in, I like simple character designs and effective colour schemes. Depending on my chosen target audience, I might choose to design my own character.
http://www.inspirefirst.com/2011/12/08/showcase-desirable-booklet-designs-inspiration/ http://www.icanbecreative.com/70-showcase-of-creative-booklet-and-catalog-designs-for-your-inspiration.html
Primary idea research Infographic An infographic approach to this brief could prove effective if done right, however choosing what to base the infographic on could be difficult to decide, since there’s so much to choose from, especially on such a wide topic like the Earth Artefact brief. Doing an infographic seems to be the most popular approach for this kind of project, where information needs to be collected and distributed. I would choose to design the infographic minimally and effectively, using minimalist iconography to visually display the information like the example I have shown. I found a range of different infograph examples, one of them being interactive (and about space, which ties in with the brief!) I really like the minimal style most of these infographics have, which is that style that I would want to achieve if I created my own. The bottom space infographic is very detailed and it would consume too much time if I attempted to create it, but regardless I like the way the lines fluidly move across the page, which is something I could take inspiration from and translate it into a simpler style to save time and suit my own needs. I really like the middle left image, this screenshot was taken from an interactive website, which calculates the distance between plants in pixels. The style really drew me in, because it’s not overly detailed or hard to read or look at. This style would be ideal for anything I want to create.
http://www.swedeniscold.com/Nike-Kinect-Training-Iconography
http://www.distancetomars.com/ http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/50-informative-and-well-designed-infographics/
Primary idea research Comic book style Creating a small comic or story about a little aliens visit to Earth and following him around on his journey as he learns language, culture, friendship etc would be a fun and creative way to approach the brief. I have chosen to look at both web comics for this example. The web comic approach seems more appropriate to me, since quality isn’t lost in the work, the process is easier with the aid of a drawing tablet and things can be changed easily and relatively quickly. I have tried to select a different number of drawings styles to show how different one web comic can be from the other, and how they can humorous or sometimes more serious. For example, the top left and bottom comics are light hearted and humorous, with the top left being a sketchy simple comic and the bottom being more detailed and coloured, with a childish vibe. The top right has a more serious approach and a different art style, with a limited colour pallet, giving it an almost vintage look. I really like the cartoon style on the bottom comic, and the way it is simply drawn but has subtle effects added (like glowing and gradients) and it’s childlike drawing manner.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/kevintang/42-web-comics-you-need-to-read#.mq9a40bj8
http://www.thegamercat.com/comic/sacrifice/
Experimentation
Experimentation Information booklet The information booklet would most likely be set out like a leaflet, with a lot of vital information other lifeforms would need to know about Earth. It could include population sizes, female to male ratio, disease, etc. The booklet would most likely be a more serious looking document, depending on the information displayed in it. I have drawn some rough layout sketches of the leaflet and below found a diagram demonstrating the ways it could be folded. I have then tested some of these layouts with paper.
http://kf-fruin1013-dc.blogspot.co.uk/2012_02_01_archive.html
Experimentation Infographic Here I have quickly made a mock-up design of an infographic idea I would probably execute if I chose to take the idea forward. I used Adobe Illustrator to create this simple infographic outline. I used the line tool, ellipse tool and the pen tool. I wanted to show the human life span, so how we start and how we end. Quickly and effectively I used the pen tool to create my vector shadows, then placed them into the corresponding circles. To fit them into the circles I selected the circle, pressed the “Draw Inside� tool button, selected the character, deleted and then went to edit > paste in place.
The Human Lifespan
Experimentation Comic book/info book For my comic book/info book I have drawn up a few page layout sketches and compositions for it. I (very) roughly sketched out some page ideas and layouts, for what I could include in my illustrated book. I want the book to be informative as well as fun-looking and colourful. I first did my sketches, then I wanted to create it using the Adobe suite to get a feel of what the product would look like when vectorised. I used Adobe Illustrator to set out the page and placed simple text boxes in the place where the titles will go. In the final product I will most likely use my own handwritten font for the titles, to give it a unique and doodled look. The Earth illustration was placed onto the design, with the shape tool creating 2 stars around it. I would improve the design when I develop it for my final piece of work. I have also created some example icons of what could be in my book, such as rain clouds and a sun to demonstrate the weather, using Illustrator.
HELLO
Welcome to Earth
Final idea Research
Final idea research Illustrated book/leaflet I have decided to base my final piece on an illustrated book/leaflet. I have decided that this piece will be illustrated digitally in order for it to be the highest quality I am able to make it, this would also make the product easier to print and also make it accessible online as a digital product. Here I have gathered illustrated booklets in the styles that I would most like to replicate. The top two are from illustrator joe Baglow who resides in London. His style seems very sloppy, but I like the childish look of his artwork, i think if I target my final product towards children/young adults this drawing style may work well. The bottom two images are from an artist named Gemma Correll. I really like her illustrations, because she uses limited colours and has a simple art style. I chose the right image as an example because it illustrates people, and it will help me with my design choice when I draw up my illustrations.
http://www.gemmacorrell.com/
Final idea research Book/leaflet layouts Here I have gathered different illustrated books/leaflets/etc in order to gain some layout inspiration. The first one on the left is a leaflet design for a skill building course. The elements that drew me into this design were mostly the way the speech bubbles broke up the chunks of text and connected each other. i like this because it makes the page look less messy but still has the ‘drawn freehand’ look to it. The second on the right is a page from an illustrated book. I liked this because the images spread out over two double pages, with big and clean illustrations. The colouring is neat with textures added. The bottom image is a black and white comic-like illustration. I like that the separate ‘panels’ are on the same page but still neatly placed and easy to read. This makes it easier to fill pages with text and images without it looking cluttered.
http://kateordiecomics.com/archive/webcomics-spring-break/
My development
My development Initial character design sketches Here I sketched out rough designs of the little alien character I want to be featured in my book. I tried to come up with a lot of diverse designs for them. I didn’t want the design to be overly complicated, since the book is for children/young people I wanted it to be a simple character. I think the top right and the bottom designs are my favourite. I am unsure which character design I would choose until I have illustrated them.
My development Illustrating character sketches Using my drawing tablet and Illustrator I chose 4 of my favourite sketches and quickly designed and coloured them in Illustrator. Illustrating them helped me see what they would look like if I was to take their design plans further and put them in my final. I have decided that I want my final design to be seamless, because I think it would look neater and more refined without an outline.
My development Developing final character Using Illustrator I created my final alien character that would be featured in my final book. I first created a body shape using the ellipse tool in Illustrator. I used a purple colour as a default before I decide on a potential colour palette for my final piece. To add texture and ‘fur’ to the character I used the ellipse tool to make a small circle, used the direct selection tool to stretch out a point in the circle and added the shape to my brushes. I then created the eyes by using the ellipse tool and creating a gradient inside it. At first I had colour in the eyes but decided to get rid of them, because I don’t want overly detailed illustrations in my work due to the minimalist style I want to create with my character. I then used the line tool to create simple limbs and attached them to the body.
My development Developing final character Because the default colour for my initial alien design was purple, I wanted to experiment with other colours to see if any of them looked better. I think after doing these experiments, purple or red may work best in my book.
My development - Front cover
Front cover development - Artist research Krista Clement Whilst putting together my moodboard I stumbled across Illustrator Krista Clement. She’s done a lot of things, from posters to book covers and product branding. I really liked her minimalistic style and was inspired by her book covers and poster designs. Krista graduated from the University of Michigan, Class of 2012 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. “Give me large amounts of information and I can turn it into something compelling and easy to read. I am a lover of great books, Michigan sports, and lipstick. I can solve any problem I am faced with.” Her “You are my sunshine” poster stood out to me because she illustrated the sun as half the page, using the negative space rather than leaving too many gaps. I really like this piece and feel like it could influence my cover.
Front cover development Layout sketches Here I sketched a few layout designs for the front cover of my book. I particularly favour the top-left and bottom-right design sketch, so I will most likely take these sketches forward and create them digitally. I like these particular sketches because they both cover a lot of the page so it will look interesting and appealing to the viewer. I think featuring the little alien character who will be in my book would be an effective design as well.
Front cover development Layout sketches To take forward my design sketches I sketched my two favourite ones again, this time with colour and more definition on the design layout and such.
Front cover development Cover development To create my planets I used the Ellipse tool to make basic circles. I then added coloured lines to the planet to give it some texture, by using the brush tool. I then added a shadow to the planet by creating two new black circles directly over the planet itself, and using the pathfinder tool to cut off the overlapping part of the circle which gave me a crescent moon shape and dropped the opacity to 10% I continued this method for the other planets.
I enlarged my alien so that most of his face was peering from the bottom of the page, then added the background colour once I was happy with the position. I then added the earth which I created with the method I had used for my other planet, and used the star shape tool to add starts into the background.
Front cover development Cover development 2 For my second cover design, I used the same method to create slightly different planets that would be featured on my front cover. I also created a larger planet Earth coming in from the bottom left corner of the page, and shaded this the same was as the others, using dark circles and the pathfinder tool.
Front cover development Colour experiment On the first cover I developed I will be testing the previous colours of the alien I experimented with by placing them on the front cover of my book.
Typography
Typography Dafont.com For my cover page I looked into interesting typography from dafont.com I tried to look for relevant styles, such as digital/space themed fonts. I tried to choose a diverse range of styles, from ‘handwritten’ to pixel and bubble writing. I really like the detailing in some of the ones I have chosen, so I will be talking about the ones that I prefer in more detail.
WELCOME TO EARTH!
Welcome to Earth!
I used the simple phrase ‘Welcome to Earth’ since this was the first title for my book I came up with, just to sample the fonts I had found.
WELCOME TO EARTH!
Welcome to Earth!
Welcome to Earth
Welcome to Earth
Welcome to Earth
Welcome to Earth
Welcome to WELCOME TO EARTH Earth Welcome to Earth
Welcome to Earth
Typography Analysing typefaces
Welcome to Earth! ‘Hipsterish’ This font is a ‘handwritten’ style font. I feel that if I used this kind of font in my work, that it would get lost within the illustration. What drew me into this font was the curls of the terminals on the letters ‘c’ and ‘e’ I thought these looked interesting, but it may be a but confusing to see from far away, so I think a bolder and clearer font may be best suited.
WELCOME TO EARTH! ‘Spacebit’ This is the typical pixel style font seen in oldschool retro games. I’m not sure if this font would be best suited to my book, because my book has quite modern illustrations
Welcome to Earth ‘Frankfurt’ is a bubble style font, I really liked the shiny effect the letters had when I saw this font. I like this font because the x-height is consistent throughout the font and it is a clean looking and easy to read typeface. I think as a bolder typeface this would work really well as a title or header.
Welcome to Earth ‘The Million Mile Man’ is another handwritten style font with a crude 3D effect. This font appealed to me because it still had the charming effect of being handwritten like ‘Hipsterish’ but was bolder and slightly easier to read from afar.
Welcome to Welcome to Earth Earth! ‘Typografix’ Typografix is an interesting looking font to me, the way the bowls of the ‘e’ and ‘a’ doesn’t touch the stem of the letter, I thought it looked different. I also like the curves of the font, how there’s no corners which gives it that smooth sleek look. I’m not sure how well this would work as a title but it may be suitable as a header.
‘Maria Dolores’ Maria Dolores is another bubble font, with very skinny stems and filled in counters. I liked this font for how small and compact it was, and I also have the ability to manipulate the font and fill in the letters with colours that may work on the front cover of my book.
Welcome to Earth ‘Atlantic Cruise’ This font stood out to me because it looked very ‘spacey’ and comic-book like, which is what I’m essentially going for within my own book.
Welcome to Earth “Orange Juice” Finally, Orange Juice is a very bold font. It was very striking, and I like the way it looks like it’s been crudely shaded in. I feel as though this font might contract nicely with the illustrations on my cover, so I will probably test this font before making a final decision.
Typography Typography test - Downloaded fonts
WELCOME TO EARTH
WELCOME TO EARTH
WELCOME TO EARTH
WELCOME TO EARTH
Hipsterish -
Spacebit -
Frankfurt -
The Million Mile Man -
When placed onto my cover I noticed immediately that the font doesn’t jump off the page or look particularly interesting. There are sizing and placement issues in the example, but I still don’t think that it works well as a book cover title. It might function better on the inside of the book.
Spacebit is the typical retro pixel font. I feel that the font could be suited, but the sizing and placement isn’t quite right in the above mock up. Although it is the stereotypical space themed retro font, I don’t think it quite fits its purpose and didn’t look how I expected it to.
I believe that this font works quite well within my cover. I think it’s because it’s quite a fun and large font. This makes it easier to read. It also has a very flat design with minimal detail, but the detail is very effective in giving that font a more interesting overall appearance. I definitely think this is the best and most suited font I have tested.
This font surprisingly looked better on my cover than I expected. It has a sketched charm to it which I really like, because it contrasts nicely with the flat vectors of my illustrations. The sizing and placement would be worked on if I chose to take this typeface forward in my work.
Typography Typography test - Downloaded fonts
WELCOME TO EARTH
WELCOME TO EARTH
WELCOME TO EARTH
WELCOME TO EARTH
Atlantic Cruise -
Typografix -
Maria Dolores -
Orange Juice -
This font seems very similar to ‘Hipsterish’ but I think the noticeable difference is that this font is bolder and better suited to be a cover title. I would definitely experiment with making the typeface bigger if I was to take this forward.
With this font there was an issue with the kerning and spacing between the words when I exported to a PDF format. I don’t think this font works well as a title because it doesn’t look interesting enough to want the viewer to read further, and I don’t think it compliments and illustrations particularly well.
This font leaves a lot of room for customisation. I could colour in the place spaces between the stalks or add a pattern. I like the flexibility of this font but I’m unsure it would work as my title, just because the typeface letters itself are quite small, the stalks are quite narrow and squished.
Orange Juice is like an alternate of ‘The Million Mile Man’ except the shadow of the letters are actually shaded in this font. I think this gives the letters more depth and I feel that this font is the best of the two when compared side by side. I could again manipulate this font and fill the spaces with colours or patterns.
Content pages
Content pages Pages In the actual book I will be mapping out what the pages might contain. There’s a vast number of topics that could be focused on throughout the book. 1. Weather types 2. Animals 3. Human characteristics 4. Food 5. Religion 6. Culture (weddings, etc) 7. Human biology (pregnancy, ageing, etc) 8. Jobs and professions 9. Educations 10. Gender 11. Seasons 12. Technology 13. Ethnicity 14. Emotions 15. Countries (geography)
Content pages Research - The Very Hungry Caterpillar The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a classic childrens book written by Eric Carle. The book follows precisely what it says, a very hungry caterpillar. We follow the caterpillars journey through various items of food, we get to know exactly what he munches through and on which days. The art style of this book is very unique and well done. It looks like the art is compromised of various shapes fitted together, slightly overlapping on some parts. The art looks hand painted with varying colour palettes on each item and visible brush strokes. We follow him through his journey to become a butterfly, which is helpful for children to learn about the process in which this happens. This is a very memorable and classic childrens book which is very well illustrated and written. I hope to emulate this within my own book in my own style.
Content pages Research - The Tiger Who Came to Tea The Tiger Who Came to Tea is another classic childrens book, written by Judith Kerr. The book is about a little girl called Sophie and her mother, when they’re sitting down for tea they’re joined by an unusual guest, a tiger! The book has a very refreshing art style, the clean white backgrounds help the colours remain vivid and bright, everything is very well illustrated. I really like the way the book is set out and the storyline is funny and interesting, enough to keep children and parents entertained.
Content pages Research - Beegu During my assessment, I had a very insightful conversation with a tutor who pointed me in the direction of a children’s book. This book is about a little alien named Beegu, who comes to Earth. As I didn’t know about this book and was excited to do some research, I looked more into the book. At first glance, the art style is very simple and uses a limited but attractive and soft colour pallet, meaning that Beegu herself is prominent on the page with an unnatural yellow colouring, which was a good choice since she doesn’t blend in with any backgrounds and the illustrations are clear to see and very charming. Throughout the book, Beegu is exploring earth and comes across all kinds of things such as different animals who can’t understand her alien language. The book also comes into contact with people. Beegu is ignored, overlooked and rejected by all the adults she encounters, appealing the children, and the childlike sense that only the little people can really see and appreciate the “out-of-this-world” things.
Content pages Page layout thumbnails I have drawn out rough sketches of what my page layouts could look like. I’ve also shown how I could represent weather types and food groups. I am unsure if I will stick exactly to the planned layouts but I do think they will be beneficial in helping me during my developmental stage.
Book Creation
Book creation First page illustration development To start illustrating my page layout, I used the program Illustrator so that the product I create will retain its quality no matter what it is resized to, and so that the image is easier to edit if need be.
I first started by using a simple dark blue rectangle to create a sky.
I then added a dark green rectangle for simple grass, then used the pen tool to map out rough mountains, adding a gradient effect.
Using the same technique for the river, I used the pen tool and added a gradient with various blues.
To create the trees I used the pen tool again, then created a triangle shape and stretched it to make branches of various sizes.
I’m really happy with how this turned out, I think I will continue to develop my book in this style since this is one I am now comfortable with and can develop my skills in Illustrator easily.
To create the flowers and leaves, I manipulated shapes. For the leaves I used the direct selection tool to add points to a circle, and for the flowers I used the pucker and bloat effect on a hexagon.
With the flower shape I created, I made bushes out of it by placing a darker green shape inside and using the eraser to shape the bottom. I also created another tree for the background of the scene.
Finally I created a moon out of a planet I earlier developed, added my alien to the scene and dotted stars in the sky using the tool shape, leaving room for me to add text further on into the project.
Book creation Second page illustration To continue my development I took some elements of the first page to place in the second (trees etc.) This makes the process easier, fast and also insures consistency in artwork throughout the book.
I created the background sunrise by drawing 3 coloured rectangles and blending them with the blend tool.
For the sun, I drew two circles and blended the outside one, making it a light yellow colour and changing the later to colour dodge.
To create grass I drew a simple rectangle. Then with the pen tool I created a grass shape and added it to the symbols panel and scattered it.
To save time I copied the previous trees I had drawn over to this page and adjusted them accordingly, changing size and features.
I am finding Illustrator easier to deal with and using skills from tutorials I have learned to develop my final outcomes. I’m really pleased with the progress so far.
I then placed my alien on the page, and decided to create a small animal (hedgehog) for him to discover.
This is the hedgehog in the scene, created in Illustrator using the pen tool. I like the simplicity of the drawings, I feel that they fit in well with the style I’m going for.
Book creation Third page illustration This one I made a very simple page to show the changes in weather, in this instance, rain.
I used the gradient tool to create a dark grey to white background, for my gloomy rain scene.
To create my rain clouds I drew an oval with the ellipse tool, then using the same tool drew circles and placed them around the oval.
The raindrops I created started off as simple circles, but I used the direct selection tool to point the corner, then again to pull the shape into a raindrop
After placing my alien inside I was done with this scene, I wanted this page to be less detailed to show that the scene was changing.
Book creation Fourth page illustration This one I made a very simple page to show the changes in weather, in this instance, rain.
I kept the background in the previous scene for this page and enlarged the rainclouds a little bit.
I used the pen tool to draw out a rough shape of a cave opening.
Using the pen tool again I added different shades of grey to the cave outside to add some texture. Opacity faded to 30%
I also increased the amount of raindrops and placed some on the alien, to show him running for shelter while being drenched in rain. This also makes the sky/background look less bland and empty.
Book creation Fifth page illustration For this one, since the alien went into the cave I wanted to create a dark scene, so I simply placed his eyes on a very dark grey background signifying he was in the darkness alone. I made this a double page spread.
Book creation Sixth page illustration On this page I made a snowy winter scene to show the change in seasons. I used the cave I had previously drawn for ease, flipped it and continued to develop the scene.
A simple light blue background was created using the rectangle tool.
I copy-pasted the cave from the previous page, reflected it and placed it on the other side of the page, as the alien exits.
I added a penguin into the scene for the alien to discover a new animal, like he will discover something new in every scene.
The penguin was made using the pen tool in illustrator, I chose to only use two colours to make it fit within the style of my book.
I then used the star shape tool to create snowflakes, I edited the points for it to have 7. I faded these to 50%
Snow was then drawn onto the cave and the ground using the pen tool, I faded the snow to 50% to shape it around the cave with ease using anchor points.
Book creation Seventh page illustration I again took elements from previous pages to change the seasons to autumn.
I used a gradient from light blue to white for this page background.
I again used the previous trees and changed them to autumn colours.
To accompany the wind I wanted to create the effect of leaves blowing in the wind, I took to Illustrator and drew rough leaf shapes and used autumn colours.
The leaf shapes made in Illustrator.
I took the grass from the other scene and coloured it brown to suit the season on the page.
I wanted to create the effect of wind, so I used the spiral shape tool and changed the stroke to 0.5 and the style to the crayon/sketched looking line in the options menu.
Book creation Eighth page illustration Springtime scene with flowers and bees.
I kept the white/blue background for my springtime page.
I changed the trees to lighter greens and lighter browns to signify the change in season.
I also made the grass a lighter green, copy it over from the last page and changing the colours after expanding the stamp.
I also created flowers using the ellipse tool and simple rectangles for the stalks, and placed them into the grass. I also added clouds to the sky and placed the alien to the side this time, rather than the middle of the page, as if he’s walking into it.
I also used the shapes and pencil tool to create a little bee and butterfly. I used mostly the ellipse tools to create the creatures.
The bee and butterfly in the scene.
Book creation Ninth page illustration I made the summer scene on a beach, to change the artwork around a little and for the alien to discover something else new.
A simple blue sky using the rectangle tool was added
I added the sand and sea underneath, using the pen tool.
I wanted to add some more minor detail, so using the pen tool I traced around the edge of the sea and used a brush effect to add sea foam.
The sun was a simple circle made using the ellipse tool and holding shift for a perfect shape.
I added my little alien and gave him some footprints to add some detail to the image.
Book creation Tenth page illustration I kept him on the beach and added a little adventure, he is suddenly picked up by two women and used as a ball by mistake!
I kept the same sky
I also kept the same beach and background for ease.
I was a little hesitant about drawing humans as I had never done it. I found a reference pose from the internet and started drawing around it to create my two women in the scene playing volleyball. I used the pen tool in Illustrator to create these.
! I kept the same sea foam but flipped it to the other side of the page to make the scene have some differences.
I placed my alien into the scene and gave him a “!� symbol next to his head to show his surprise at being grabbed and thrown around.
!
Book creation Eleventh page illustration In this part he meets a small little boy who befriends him
This time I made the sea the dominant background piece.
I kept the sand as usual
I again found a reference pose for my human child and used the pen tool in illustrator to develop him.
After adding my curious little creature into the scene I was finished with page 11.
I created a little sandcastle illustration to make the scene less empty, again using Illustrator.
Book creation Twelfth page illustration On this page I’m covering gender, I was unsure how to illustrate this at first.
Because I was unsure, I created a simple blue/pink gradient background
I added my alien peering from the bottom of the page.
I drew two figures, a woman and a man and left them blank for simplicity and minimalism. Which also leaves enough room to write about them.
Book creation Thirteenth page illustration This is where he discovers different types of food
I created a simple rectangle to serve as the table with him peering over.
I started with the meat/protein food. I created these using the pen tool.
I made oranges, apples and bananas the same way.
The same was done for the cake
I am happy with this page and how I decided to lay it out, it’s much easier to see.
X
and the vegetables
and a bowl of cereal.
X
Book creation Fourteenth page illustration Here him and the child go out to play in a meadow.
I used a very light blue sky for this background
I had my alien sit against the tree
Added clouds with the technique demonstrated earlier and faded them to 70% opacity.
I added trees to the scene.
As well as pink flowers scattered around the grass.
Book creation Fifteenth page illustration He goes to play at the meadow with the little boy, when he suddenly sees his spaceship here to take him home
For convenience, I opened the previous scene I did and just edited the placement of the trees and clouds.
I faded the clouds and adjusted their sizes.
I opened a separate illustrator a drew a spaceship which would be placed onto the page.
The alien sees his ship coming to take him home and jumps up in excitement.
Book creation Sixteenth page illustration He is beamed up by his spaceship and goes home
I kept the light blue sky.
Moved the clouds around and kept them faded around 70% opacity
I added a star shape and reduced the number of points to 3, I then added a gradient with a low opacity to create the beam over him.
I moved the little aliens arms up so he was ready to be beamed into his ship
I added the ship above him in the scene
Typography
Typography Front cover I couldn’t decide between these two fonts so I will be analysing them both.
WELCOME TO EARTH
‘The Million Mile Man’ caught my eye because of its sketchy child-like aesthetic. I think this style of font really suits the theme of my book and the target audience, which is children. The disadvantages are that the kerning is very small and it say be difficult for them to read the font.
WELCOME TO EARTH
Frankfurt on the other hand is a neat bubble-writing type font which is very bold and easy to read. I think this one would be more suitable for my front cover, the x-heigh is consistent and the kerning is small like ‘The Million Mile Man’ but it is still very readable and noticeable.
Typography Refining type Refining the size and placement of chosen typeface on the cover.
WECLOME TO EARTH
WELCOME TO EARTH
WELCOME TO EARTH
WELCOME TO EARTH
I aligned the text to the left of the page in the top left corner, in order to not distract from the illustrations on the page, especially the planets. I also tried to use the negative space in an effective way, so the page didn’t look empty. If I choose this placement I will most likely arrange the stars neatly around the page and use rulers to make sure everything is lined up and equal.
In this one I placed the text right at the top of the page in the middle. I also think this placement could work well, since the words flow better in the straight line and are out of the way of the illustrations underneath it.
With this one I spaced and aligned the text in the centre, I dislike how this outcome came out since the words are too close to the illustrations and it looks too messy with a lot of negative space around it.
With this one I took a different approach and decided to play around with the words as separate text boxes. Even though I was cautious when placing the text, making sure the first and last two letters were in line with one another, this placement doesn’t make use of negative space very well and I feel it makes the page very crowded.
Typography Refining type Final front cover
Using guides on illustrator I lined up the font around the top and the sides to create an even space around it. Using these guides I placed stars around the font and the page evenly, making sure not to go outside of the guides at all. I feel that placing the font in the middle and at the very top of the page, guides the eye down the page to the busy illustration. The font being at the very top doesn’t distract from any of the details in the images below it. I feel that this was the best option.
WELCOME TO EARTH
Typography Inside pages I want something that pairs nicely with my cover font, so I may opt for a serif font for the inside, or a nice sans-serif that’s easily readable.
Bleep woke up in the forest... He was alone.
‘Linowrite’ was the first serif font I tested, taken from dafont.com I really liked the simplicity of the font, since the book has a lot going on in the background I didn’t want to overcomplicate the typeface. The cap height is very consistent throughout the font which makes it flow smoothly.
Bleep woke up in the forest... He was alone.
‘Biko’ was the first sans-serif font I sampled on my page. I like the boldness of the font and how it makes the typeface clear. I can’t decide between a serif or sans serif font, but I feel a serif font may suit the page more due to the illustrations being quite clean and modern I think the serif font would produce a nice contrast if the right font is used.
Bleep woke up in the forest... He was alone.
‘Obcecada’ caught my eye because it was a slightly different style. Unfortunately when I tested the font, I found that the tracking of the letters is way too small, making the font look constricted and hard to read.
Bleep woke up in the forest... He was alone.
‘Fontastique’ is another sans-serif font I looked at, looking at this one, the curves of the stems and the lack of a spur on the ‘a’ looks odd to me, I dislike the lettering style of the font, since I don’t think it suits its purpose of being in a children’s book.
Typography Chosen typeface I decided to go with the font ‘Linowrite’ since I felt this font was best suited to my page illustrations. To the right is an example of my finished pages with the Linowrite text added and the page exported as a PDF. I am happy with my font choice, I believe the contrast of the serif font with the smooth flat illustrations works very well. While placing the font onto the pages I will take into consideration the background colours, so I can adjust my font colour accordingly. White worked best on the dark blue sky colour, but it may not work on the light blue sky in later pages so I will use my intuition to choose whatever colours suit the page best.
Boop woke up in a dark, cold forest... He was alone.
Final book
Final book Final pages Here I will lay out my pages into an InDesign book form. I did this until all my pages were placed in the right order and fit on the pages & PDF’d the outcome.