Pan Macmillan Alice in Wonderland Kat Dunbobbin
When people think of Alice, they think of The Macmillan Alice: her blue dress, blonde hair and ‘Alice band’. Curious Alice, the iconic White Rabbit, the formidable Queen of Hearts and the Mad Hatter’ This tells me that the important parts to focus on are the characters and specifically the iconic appliances that they have. “The authentic and most complete range of Alice titles in print, digital and audio, for all readers to enjoy and love” They clearly want a complete range which opens up the brief to designs that need to be transferrable which could mean using more vector based work so that size and colour are more easily changed to fit the purpose of its advertising vehicle. “Sir John Tenniel’s iconic artwork, coloured by Harry Theaker” Use these as references on either what to take influences from or what to change. “John Tenniel, first as black-and-white plates and then with coloured versions of the original drawings. When his eyesight began to fail, Tenniel gave approval to Macmillan to ask Harry G. Theaker to complete sixteen new colour plates, and it is these illustrations” Completing colour palettes could be a good way to minimise the print costs by keeping it down to perhaps a set number of colours and also it insinuates that the illustrations were produced using line work then colour was added which could be interesting to attempt in a different illustrative style.
A Brief Intro
“Her blue dress, blonde hair and ‘Alice band’” Keep some of the iconic imagery. “Pan MacMillan – It’s the original home of classics such as Alice in Wonderland” Try to include this fact in the design somehow make sure that the fact they are the original publishers part of the design or the advertising process. “publishes over 400 books a year” Good and popular Publishers “Julia Donaldson, Axel Scheffler, Rod Campbell, Emily Gravett, Eva Ibbotson, Judy Blume, Andrew Lane and Frank Cottrell Boyce. Macmillan Children’s Books also publishes Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy’s work for children and has an extensive poetry list.” Some of the other authors they publish – use these as more research and take inspiration from patterns between the designs to link publications together. “Create a new cover and up to two wondrous interior page illustrations for one of our most precious pieces of heritage: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Your illustrations should enchant a whole new readership and although you must include a front cover, you are free to choose a couple of scenes from the book. These might be new interpretations of scenes that have been drawn before or entirely new ones – it’s up to you. We are entirely open to styles of illustration too.”
Some instructions makes it clear that reading the book would be worthwhile to find interesting imagery to graphically represent. “Our primary audience is parents of girls aged 5-9. Our secondary audience is parents of boys aged 5-9 and gift givers, such as grandparents, aunts, uncles etc.” Important to remember the target Audience. “The cover design must include the Macmillan Alice 150 logo.” MacmillanAlice_150Years_CMYK 40mm Don’t forget this! “New cover design for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland which must be 270mm (H) x 215mm (W), and supplied as a PDF. The Macmillan Alice 150 logo can act like a sticker on the cover so please supply one illustration with it included in the artwork and one without. 1-2 interior page illustrations from scenes within the book which must sit within a 270mm (H) and 215mm (W) single page, and be supplied as a PDF. Please also include the page number from the Macmillan Classics edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland along with your illustrated scenes” Important to design to the required size and proportions to be fit for purpose.
Pan MacMillan
Pan Macmillan as a compant are broken dow into many different departments that deal with different things, I feel it is important to know what books they deal with and the categories that they support. After reading these I feel I know the company better and perhaps better undertsad what they want from their anniversary special edition.
Here are some of the original illustrations by John Tenniel, I would like to use tghem in some way for inspiration in the new work, I feel that for the anniversary I should include a nod to the begining,
Originals
The Target Audience
“Our primary audience is parents of girls aged 5-9. Our secondary audience is parents of boys aged 5-9 and gift givers, such as grandparents, aunts, uncles etc.� To me this means looking at what design that those groups of people come into contact with and how they are influenced by it.
For example for the female demographic you are looking at princesses and barbie and dolls, lots of which are useful in terms or character design, clearly what is appealing is the over emphasized beauty and the bright and bold colour scheme that go hand in hand with those things. For the male demographic it becomes a little bit more difficult, at those ages their interests could range from anything wether that be toy
cars, action books, building blocks like lego or superheroes. This is something which I think could work, linking the princess with the superhero idea, both use bright and bold colour schemes and anthropomorphic cartoons.
Target Audience
Here are lots of different ways in which Alice has been reproduced in different styles. Something quite common within these images is the surrealist approach where parts of the body appear disjoingted or overly proportioned. By reading the brief I think Pan Macmillan want to stay with the blue dress and iconic headband but perhaps a new style such as the effect used on the image where Alice is holding a flamingo of where she appears in the red dress
would be interesting. It is more fitting of the style that would suit the book but trying to balance that to be suitable for both young boys and girls could be tricky. Another feature that I notice heavily features is that of the hyper realistic details, this is probably not something that I will personally be able to achieve as my skills lie more with the abstract but I could include a high level of detail within linework so as to try to
match up with what is clearly a trend. This trend could be due to the increase in game design that is readliy available and developing which is very detailed and full of 3 Dimension.
Alice
Here are lots of different ways in which The Mad Hatter has been reproduced in different styles. Something quite common within these images is the sway in which he isnt shown as particularyly kind looking man. Also the emphasis is fairly squarley on his hat, as it should be for his character.. By reading the brief I think Pan Macmillan want to stay with the Mad approach but perhaps a new style such as making him a much darker styled character, keeping it
surreal but I would have to be very careful not to overstate this aspect though due to its target audience.. It is more fitting of the style that would suit the book Another feature that I notice heavily features is that of the hyper realistic details, this is probably not something that I will personally be able to achieve as my skills lie more with the abstract but I could include a high level of detail within linework so as to try to
match up with what is clearly a trend. This trend could be due to the increase in game design that is readliy available and developing which is very detailed and full of 3 Dimension. I could try to produce more artwork based around an abstract centre, such as the image at the top of the moodboard the simple combination of inks and possibly line could be effective.
Mad Hatter
Here are lots of different ways in which The Queen of Hearts has been reproduced in different styles. something quite common within these images is the Vibrant red colour, her form doesnt as such have a uniform appearance but the deep royal love/hatred red is massivley in focus. By reading the brief I think Pan Macmillan want to stay with the colour scheme but perhaps a new character approach would be interesting perhaps making
her look less evil and more lost. Her character could be a very interesting way to include the dream style that I think I am leaning towards with the other characters.. It is more fitting of the style that would suit the book by being surreal and dreamlike. Of course when written the story was a prodct of almost a drug induced hallucination making it suitable to be odd and disjointed. Another feature that I notice heavily features is that of
the hyper realistic details. This trend could be due to the increase in game design that is readliy available and developing which is very detailed and full of 3 Dimension. I would like to experiment with some images like the on on the right in the middle of the moodboard, in the middle at the far left and the imddle at the top. These all intrige me with their abstract natures.
Queen of Hearts
Here are lots of different ways in which The March Hare has been reproduced in different styles. something quite common within these images is the sketchy approach where parts of the body appear disjoingted or disproportioned. By reading the brief I think Pan Macmillan want to stay with the mad feel a bit like the hatter, but perhaps a new use of colour as there isnt one set as a standard would be interesting. It is more fitting of the style
that I am looking at using withh the other characters and taking this more masculine character I feel that I could make it appeal to the female demographic. Another feature that I notice heavily features is that of the details and the way that the hare has been produced in a more humanistic manner. This is probably something that I will try to achieve as my skills lie more with the abstract but I could include a high level of
detail within linework so as to try to match up with what is clearly a trend. This trend could be due to the increase in game design that is readliy available and developing which is very detailed and full of 3 Dimension. I particularly like the image of the hare in the second column third image down. The very simple linework would incooperate well with some specific artists styles.
March Hare
Here are lots of different ways in which The White Rabbit has been reproduced in different styles. Something quite common within these images is the more animalistic feel with this character compared to the others.. By reading the brief I think that this one of the characters that is less well known and therefore more adaptable in terms of illustration it would be interesting to give this
character more of a stamp on the book making him iconic too. Perhaps a new style such as the effect used on the image on the bottom right of the moodboard would be interesting. This layout style would be interesting too, i have noticed that lots of the images I like could be quite easily adapted to fit onto a paying card which is something I might experment with.
I like the way that they distinguish between the hare and the rabbit by making one more animal like so I may inculude that difference in my work also.
White Rabbit
Illustr Ins
rators and spirations
Here I will look at a few different Artists, Illustrators and Designers to get a feel for the style that I want to use within this project but also how to produce a similar effect and if they will work for my purposes.
About : “Turine Tran, a Vietnamese born artist, takes inspiration from children, companionship, nature, Through nostalgic, dreamy images, Turine loves to invite children and adult-alike, to a world where a tiny wild flower could become a fantastic wonder.” What Works: Turine’s art often incorporates hand rendering and digital painting. She constantly explores new aspects of digital art to create rich textures, which partly set a whimsical mood to her work. What Doesn’t: I am not a big fan of Turine’s lack of the colour white in her work, she often uses beige rather than white making it look grungey rather than clean. What can I use: I could use her layout, it is always very unique and draws the eye around the page.
Turine Tran
About : Combining illustration and pattern design,her work is compared to a sea of jewels, capturing Water, life and the environment in all its glory. She is fascinated by microscopic patterns and the extraordinary decorative detail that can be portrayed. What Works: The line work in her pieces is extraordinary. Her geometirc style and natural subject matter draws the eye.
What Doesn’t: The level of detail in her work can be slightly off putting, although it looks mesmirising it can be offputting too.
What can I use: I would definatley like to use linework in my project, perhaps layering it over another style.
Hannah Davis
About : The haphazard and texturised appearance of his imagery and the collaged effect of layering up his illustrations some of which appear hyper real while others are more stylised. This mixture gives a surreal and dreamlike feel to his pieces, What Works: The way that they are constructed lends itself to publication because of its flexible layout nature.
What Doesn’t: Im not a big fan of his use of photography, although it works in his pieces I feel its not the style that I will want in my work.
What can I use: I will definatley be incooperating the layering aspect of his work.
Andre Bergamin
About : “Andy Council is an illustrator and graffiti artist from Bristol, UK. Dinosaurs combined with architecture are a common theme of his designs What Works: The cartoonistic style that Andy uses is definatley something striking and interesting as well as his subject matter.
What Doesn’t: I dont feel like his work is feminine at all, this would be an isseu for my project.
What can I use: I dont feel like I will actually use an aspect in particular of his work but I feel like it has shown me what I will stay away from.
Andy Council
About : Sarah Beetson’s work in my opinion is very striking and current, her vibrant use of colour is very postmodernist style and her illustrative linework almost cartoonish but more edgy and punk in appearance. What Works: I love her style for work based for the young adult age range, it would be great for use on a campaign as it is very distinctive.
What Doesn’t: The punk style that she uses would probably not be easy to use for my target audience.
What can I use: I will use the vibrancy of her colours, as well as he layering and linework.
Sarah Beetson
About : He will try to create an image that retains its freshness of the first paint stroke, the expressions of the line have to be very free and spontaneous. While keeping a rigorous drawing. What Works: His subject matter of people always draws the eye and will help with character design, I also really like his use of layering line and ink. What Doesn’t: He very rarely prduces work from a different subject matter.
What can I use: I definatley want to use the layering aspect, the colour and the subject matter.
Florian Nicolle
About : Marta Spendowska is Polish, US-based artist and illustrator who moves smoothly between fine art and commercial art “Color, rhythm, pattern and a lyrical atmosphere is my focus”
What Works: What I feel works in Marta’s work is the amazing use of colour and the way in which she captures form withough using linework.
What Doesn’t: One issue that I have with this work is that her pieces dont often have much substance, they have a single subject and very little indepth meaning. What can I use: Someghing that I could use from her work would definatley be her use of colour.
Marta Pendowska
About : RaphaĂŤl combines traditional hand-drawing with new digital techniques, thereby creating immensely detailed images that are both meticulous and ethereal and sometimes carry a darker subtext. What Works: Again his use of subject matter and the use of colour and layering are brilliant.
What Doesn’t: Some of the images taht he produces are too complicated, there is too much going on and becomes difficult to read.
What can I use: Again I will use the layering, colours, and subject matter.
Raphael Vicenzi
Beg My
gining y Work
Here are some Watercolour and Ink works that I have produced in the hope of putting them into a design that would be vibrant and colourful like Raphael Vicenzi or Sarah Beetson’s work. The larger image I found went very well as i was able to manipulate the colours until I believe it looked to be a very abstract rose. This could tie into the story.
Water Colour
Here are some initail textures that I feel would be appropriate for this project all are slightly paler than what I would normally use and seem either very dream like in colour or abstract in nature. I particularly chose the two with flowers in because I feel like I could incooperate those into the design as part of the story from when Alice Painted the White roses red for the Queen.
Textures
Here are some initial first drawings that I have produced which could be enhanced and made more suitable then layered with other aspects such as texture, ink and water colour. I think that the smallest image would work well for the Queen of hearts or alice depending on the colours that I choose to use and what situational layout I place them into. I hope to produce more abstract style pieces with these small illustrations as a starting point.
Small Drawings
Here are some poses that I found that I feel would suitable for illustartions of Alice and the Red Queen and a male one that I could try with the Mad Hatter, I feel like it is important to draw from what is out there are working to produce the best results
Poses for Characters
Typography
My First Idea will centalise around the styles you can see in the research images. First I have tried layering the simple line drawing but making it look very sketchy with inks and vbrand colours in more haphazard arrangements. I am not fully happy with this style I feel like hte whole piece looks too haphazard
Idea 1
My second Idea was to take the scene of the Mad Hatters Tea Party and produce a single image that represents that Iconic scene. I like the more detailed look of this work to the others and I have included Alice in the picture small to keep the surrealist edge. I might add more to this or produce it as a line drawing instead to add colour too and see how it looks.
Idea 2