OUIL 505 Applied Illustration
PR OJE CT
REPORT
INITIAL THOUGHTS
I was very excited when first briefed on this module and was motivated by the fact that we would be producing something that we could potentially sell at the end of it. We were given different categories of applied illustration as a starting point and were advised to specialise in the category that we felt suited our interests the most, in order to get the most out of the module. I had always had my mind set out to work
within the animation industry as a character designer and visual development artist so naturally Character and Narrative would ideally be appropriate for me. However, I also had an interest in products and packaging and wanted to try something different whilst I have the resources and opportunity to do that. The category I decided to proceed with for this module was Product and Packaging. Rejected products
Initially I wanted to produce products that intersect with textile design however, after doing some research and contemplating it some more, I came to a decision that I might be restricting myself with what I could produce if I went in this direction. In the end, I decided to focus my project around Performance and Dance as I am fascinated by movement and people. I began researching into different types of dances and started drawing them from photo references found on the Internet in my visual journal. My focus was to capture the energy and the atmosphere associated with the dances.
My first project proposal stated that I would produce all sorts of different products and I was also very vague with the target market, as I wanted to target as many people as possible. However I realised (after a while) that this just made it all harder for me to actually develop a worthwhile/strong idea; I was very much confused for the first half of this module. I decided then that I needed to center my project on a specific audience and have a particular purpose/function of what I wanted to create. Rejected products
I knew I wanted to create something gift/book based so I did some primary research, which consisted of me going to different stores such as Colours May Vary, Waterstones, Paperchase and WHSmith. This was really useful for me as it helped to spark up some ideas. The idea of creating an informational book on different dances for kids was greatly inspired by Matt Sewell’s own informational book on different types of Birds. I loved the simplicity and the format of it, and its charming illustrations that accompanied the texts just really suited well with the audience I decided to target.
I settled with illustrating 6 different types of dance in the end as this was a much achievable number than the 12 I originally wanted to do. I decided to make the book interactive by putting in some activities so it would be more engaging and appealing for my target audience. I began taking my sketches from my visual journal into Photoshop and decided to work with bold shapes, colours and textures as I found that a lot of the illustrations on children’s products possess these characteristics, which can only mean that it works and is successful for the age range.
I was really keen with the idea that would allow kids to explore their own creativity and get wild with their imagination. I decided then to create play pieces with the illustrations I had already done to make the product even more appealing and interactive. Brigette Brigade’s ‘Stage and Play Princesses’ inspired this idea, which I found when I went back to Waterstones to do some more research into children’s books and the additional products that came in the range.
I investigated into laser cutting to cut around the play pieces, however I was not able to use this facility in college as I was told that I needed an induction first and there was just no time for that. I settled with cutting it manually, though in industry production this would be die cut using the appropriate machine and printed straight onto the appropriate stock.
As the category that I picked was product and packaging, I decided to make the packaging for the book and play pieces. I didn’t really spend a lot of time doing research into packaging for this, as I didn’t think that it was really that necessary. I just wanted it to be simple so that it would be easy for the kids to use. With this in mind, I decided on a standard pull out box – it does its job of packaging the products and it isn’t too complicated or fragile for the intended user. Although the product is probably more appealing towards girls, I decided on the colour blue for the packaging, as it is a colour that isn’t girly or too boyish - I didn’t want to leave out other consumers. I used the same graphics that can be found inside for the cover/wrap for the box so that people are able to get a sense of what the product is like.
M O D U L E E VA L U AT I O N Overall this module has been a real challenge. The module encouraged me to think differently, not just in 2D but in 3D as well. The workshops at the beginning of this module also helped to better my understanding of the printing processes and the steps that I have to take in order for the colours to match my intentions. Researching into production and distribution methods was really useful and helped to direct my work and allowed me to create something that would have a specific purpose/function and would therefore be commercially viable. From undertaking this module I have understood how important it is to research and
know the market and the user planning and production of that you intend to produce the something. work for, as this will hugely impact the success of it. Like all the modules I have undertaken so far, I have really Researching into products and enjoyed the production of my packaging gave me a better product but I feel that the insight to the type of work that I development side of my work is can potentially do and I really really lacking; this was also enjoyed this part of it – It made identified in the final crit. I’m not me realise that the possibilities quite sure what’s wrong with me are endless and I feel a little bit but I can’t seem to experiment more excited and motivated by with different processes and the prospects of it. As I created a visual qualities in my visual final outcome that was quite journal. As a result, I don’t think informative, that have an aspect I’ve used my visual journal to its of education in it, I was once potential as I continued to work a g a i n r e m i n d e d o f t h e in my comfort zone. I’ve noticed importance of research and to that this is a repetitive thing have an understanding of your across other modules as well. subject matter before the
I think this is partly to do with the timescale that I have to work with – knowing that I have to have the projected completed and to produce something within a limited and set amount of time made me work to a method and process that I know will work, which is why I think I always stay within a method I’m familiar with and not giving my self the chance to explore other venues. I also think the decision-making that went into creating/resolving the final images hasn’t been documented as well on my blog. It was said in the final crit that there isn’t much evidence of the stage that takes the images from visual journal to final images – I’m not sure of the reason for this, I felt it just kind of happened without me even thinking about it. On the more positive side though, I have really enjoyed the module and really pleased with my final outcomes. I’m glad that people picked up upon the interactivity of the product as its strength, as this was what I wanted to achieve from the start.
I did want to portray more dances and make backdrops and other props for the play pieces but the timescale of the module meant that I had to be realistic about the amount of work I put on myself. I think I’ve really improved my practical skills and I do believe that I have achieved something rather high quality and professional. I think I want to develop the product further over the summer – add more pages to the book and create more play pieces and additional products in the range. I would also like to see if I could actually sell it in the future and maybe contact some publishers to see if they’d be interested in the product.
If I were to undergo the project again, or take on a similar self-directed project, I would definitely make the identification of my target market/audience top priority. I believe that this would save me a huge amount of time and would allow me to focus and plan my work based on that, than having to go through the process blindly and without any guidance. This was what made me struggle for the first half of the module – I just wanted to produce every product under the sun and have everyone as the audience, which I later realised that this was not the wisest thing to do. All in all I believe that I have achieved something that is pretty thoroughly researched and informed, that is appealing to my target audience.
BA (Hons) Illustration Aghnia Mardiyah Š 2015