OUIL503 Responsive
PROJECT REPORT Amy Choi
CONTENTS Individual • • •
The Pan Macmillan Prize 2016 (The Secret Garden)~ Substantial Crispin Orthotics~Small brief Illustration Friday~ Small brief
Collaborative •
YCN Fever Tree
•
0UIL503 Module Summative Evaluation
THE PAN MACMILLAN PRIZE 2016 The Secret Garden The brief requirements was to submit pencil roughs or sketches for a children's picture book – cover to cover – including text or a clear indication of the story line and finished artwork for at least four double-page spreads, or at least three spreads and a front cover. In addition entrants should bear in mind what is appropriate for the child reader. I found myself quite partial to choosing this brief because I’ve have always been quite interested in children’s book illustration and could see
myself wanting to develop this in the future so I decided to do this now as it seemed like the perfect timing and it would’ve been a good opportunity not to miss. There were three categories that I could I choose from to create a book, I choose a traditional story. To help me decide I collated a variety of classic children’s books into a table format and picked The Secret Garden by Frances Hodges Burnett. To start off researching I read the book and watched the film
and created mind maps on common themes, characters and symbolism. I also analysed past covers showing colour schemes and popular elements. As I wasn't entirely sure where to go after this I responded towards the scenery and garden depictions in the novel. I suppose this might have come across a tad clichéd but wouldn’t really make sense if I didn’t include this somehow.
Double page spread of Mary wandering the moors
Right: Close up of robin flying through the moors
After a while I became stuck as I hadn’t made a book in a long time I was quite rusty to the whole process especially since this was a relatively big brief with a lot to do it sort of overwhelmed me a little and I had to go back do some contextual research for inspiration in order to get past this stage. Prompting the idea of sequencing a narrative to communicate the book effectively. I probably spent too long in my sketchbook but eventually this helped me become more productive and be more fruitful amongst the pages.
Pan Macmillan stated that the aim of competition was for the artist to show their understanding of how to match pictures to text and that the text would not be the main criterion for judging. As the book is quite lengthy I condensed the text down to a limit so that the main focus would be on the illustrations for the book and not heavy text based so that the child’s focus would remain on the illustrations so they would engage with the story. I was quite pleased with the colour pencil process I took for this project and decided to add subtle hints of watercolours to
this. When it came to choosing scenes to illustrate in the book because I had already condensed it down I didn’t want the book to be entirely chapter constructed and in an orderly manner since I thought some parts could be developed more illustratively than others.
Right: Colin and his pink glow
When it came to choosing scenes to illustrate for the double page spreads I tried to select those that were less common knowledge to people but could still be made appealing yet interesting. I decided to make a final cover as part of the series to conclude as a whole showing the Yorkshire moors in the story interjecting subtle qualities in the form of the robin and key. Looking back I probably did spend too much time in the beginning having anxiety over communicating the narrative and wanting to create something over ambitious but I think I did manage to make something good.
Digital mock up of double page spread. Mary learns to skip.
Left: Ben Weatherstaffe finds the children in the garden
Front + back cover
Apart of this has been learning how to produce digital mock ups for the first time. It can bring a professional look and give me an idea of how illustrations applied in real life would look like.
Overall I’m glad I took this opportunity to challenge myself as I’ve learnt new ways in how to develop a book that I would had never have considered previously before even though I still have a lot to learn this was good learning experience reaching a new stage of book making. Digital mock up of Front cover and double page spread
Illustration Friday Soar
Every Friday Illustration Friday release an art challenge themed around a random topic that is super fun and inspiring! And the task is to illustrate in response to a word and submit by Friday. This is meant to be a light hearted brief as there isn’t really a prize at the end just a showcase of all the illustrations people submit.
Right: Spin
Below: Village
Since I had to respond to a different word each week. This left it open to interpretation so it could be quite spontaneous, this varied the process of development depending on the amount of spare time I had each week it also pushed moments of inspiration and some it didn’t. I think in the beginning I was excited to do this brief but having to experiment with different mediums and processes each week alongside other development almost felt a bit tiring than it had to be really and there was some words that I found I didn’t want to respond to because of this I felt like I didn’t do well on some that I could have done easily. Despite this I will continue to respond to other briefs in the future should something of interest arise. I responded to five words in total. These were quick briefs that I tried to keep within a time limit baring a time frame in mind. There were some pieces of work that I was really pleased with more so than others but overall I’m happy I took part in this experience.
Left to right: Childhood + Shelter
Crispin orthotics
Crispin Orthotics company visited Leeds College of Art and asked students to: ~To create a design for Crispin Orthotics’ orthoses. The designs are aimed at the adult population I enjoy pattern making and I have noticed unintentionally that I get highly commended for this in most of my work. I was really hoping to do a surface pattern design brief for this module and when this came along I thought it would be the perfect way to develop this in my practice.
This brief was exclusively for Leeds College of Art students and when the company came in they expressed to the students that they were in a need of crisis. They explained all the information about the orthoses and making vocal the key word ‘adaptable.’
I decided early on the best way to tackle this brief would be to create simple patterns which I later developed in Photoshop however I had second thoughts about the aesthetic and felt unsatisfied so decided I needed to come from a better angle.
To combat this I identified what boot designs where in the current market and with this instilled in my head I proceeded to create patterns that where sophisticated and mature keeping to a traditional method.
Top: Lemon pattern
Since this was the last brief I did I found it quite easy and fun to do much to which I enjoyed and even though I made last minute choices I think this worked out quite well as I was able to adapt quickly. But overall I believe my pattern making abilities have improved and I now have greater understanding of making patterns for a surface pattern brief.
Right: Squirrel pattern
Collaborative: YCN Fever Tree Limited edition bottles
Collaborators: Gracie Bisset and Amy Choi Brief: YCN Fever Tree- Create beautifully designed limited edition bottles to engage customers and raise money for Malaria No More UK For this brief I collaborated with a graphic designer as I was keen to work with another creative with broader knowledge in another aspect of there own. I though this would be a good opportunity to work to see what it would be like to work with a graphic designer.
Me and my partner Gracie where both interested in doing the Fever tree brief. I wanted to do this brief in particular because I had always been interested in designing packaging and it was something I had also always been curious about just lacking the knowledge in layout and presentation and with the help of a graphic designer this would combine both our skill sets together. We struggled initially on deciding a continent with the same countries that existed in it with a purpose that would make it relevant to solve this dilemma we researched the other ingredients and related this back to the history of Fever tree where they vocalised the importance of the journey to there ingredients.
I had concerns about the type of illustrations I was going to make as the brief highlighted that it must be sophisticated and beautiful not childish in any way and doing plenty of research and testing helped me over come this. Since the illustrative aspect was mainly my role in the collaboration it was important that we had strong communication skills to do this we made an ideal timetable that would be suitable to stay on top of the brief to complete the deadline and communicated frequently through social media and email discussing ideas and suggestions.
Final illustrations for the design
Cameroon-sugar cane
Democratic republic of congo- quinine
Mozambique- quinine
Rwanda- quinine
Digital mock up of the bottles
Below: Presentation slides submitted to YCN
Admittedly sometimes it would be quite hard to arrange meeting up at the same time aligning development because of other priorities which indicated we could’ve have planned things a bit better. Nonetheless we managed to finish the project and hand in two days before the deadline which I was very happy about. Taking our time in thinking about a solid concept helped in the end. Even though I was apprehensive about the brief in the beginning I found that working with someone else was different but also the hardest part as I had to consider another person. It meant that we had to rely on each other to get the work done. I learnt a lot during this time for my first collaboration and it was good experience.
OUIL503 Summative Evaluation For this module I had to participate in an assortment of live briefs. I think thus far this has been one of the most beneficial modules coming from the previous module it was primarily focused on one subject and this was different because I had to take a different approach and respond to several instead. It felt like there was less pressure for these briefs as it was down to me to decide what to do. Staying within the module guidelines I was in charge and the only person I could disappoint was myself. I was forced to apply myself analytically for each competition although, this was something that I struggled with initially for The Pan Macmillan brief, this was a relatively big brief that overwhelmed me slightly as I was
a bit hazy from the process of book making and I was trying to familiarise my memory with the approach of creating a book as forming a narrative wasn’t my strongest point. I chose this brief because I have a strong interest in children’s book illustration and despite the issues I encountered I was able to overcome these doubts this did slightly hinder the module. However continuing on into other briefs changed these negative thought processes I was having feeding through into the next stage I was able bounce back in the studio brief two taking part of collaborative after finding some great success. Throughout this module I have had to work with a wide breath of analogue in the first module I had started to capitalise on a particular aesthetic within my work and continuing into the next stage of this I was able to drive
forward new techniques and methodologies this started to happen particularly in collaborative this then impacted my productivity leading to my endeavour to reproach the Pan Macmillan brief again altering the rate I work becoming more progressive in my sketchbook methods. Upon this return I also made progression on narrative through story telling using a sequence in my work developing my methodologies for that. The requirements for each brief varied this left me uncertain about the amount of development I should have done keeping in mind a time span which resulted in rushed jobs for instance the Illustration Fridays and trying to fit these around other projects accordingly.
The research aspect was lacking as knowing that I wouldn’t have to submit any physical work for the submission meant hastily skipping some corners. I think going straight into experimentation before development from brief analysis lead to over analysing certain decisions I made and I should have researched more in the initial stages this would’ve have helped me progress more quickly into the rest of the project. In the future I should follow a more thorough research of procedure to execute briefs effectively and efficiently. Pattern making is a practical skill that I have unconsciously succeeded in other modules however this time I was able to
apply my skills specifically to a more catered brief enabling me to explore that subject entirely alone. This meant I could evolve more other techniques I had developed and had never applied before informing me on a different skill set that I can apply to this. I enjoyed doing the Crispin Orthotics brief because it was quite fun and after having advanced in other briefs this came easily to me. I have learnt more about accommodating towards a specific target audience. It was challenging in the beginning trying to adopt new ways of working. I often tend to aim for a childish and playful look in my work and changing this to fit an adult market and expanding my skills has helped improve my
understanding of what is appropriate for another audience, this happened for Crispin Orthotics and Fever tree. I was initially quite keen to work with another creative and learn about different skill sets but at some points I did find it hard for us to arrange appropriate times to meet up due to overlapping schedules and other commitments I think next time I should maybe try to find someone more available to work with.
Overall I’m glad that I did this module I’m pleased with some outcomes more so than others. This could have been down to me overthinking things in the beginning but with more ease and less restraint I will be able to focus and carry on. Maybe I should have been less picky but felt like there wasn’t much selection in choice of briefs this meant I spent too long waiting for ideal briefs when I should have just done it. But I should have pushed myself in the beginning and regret not doing
this this was partly down to prioritising other modules first which can be solved with better planning and time management. I think for some competitions I could have done more practical development resulting in stronger outcomes. Now that I have finished I have learned so much these past few months about what it’s like working for live briefs and what briefs would be best for me to manage myself and complete from here on.