MADELINE JENKINS
Portfolio
Proposal I want to achieve a piece of work which highlights: 1. 2. 3. 4.
The population as a whole should take a view or a perspective on the issues we face (whether it is about global warming to the disappearance of animals in local woodlands and the constant growth in developing sites).
Conservation and protection. To create awareness. Encourage people to explore. To support campaigns and engage with the viewer. First thoughts: • Exploration of local and un-local I want to educate people about the environments (country and urban). environment and encourage them to • Media Views. explore. I want to highlight conservation • Farmers Views in relation to media issues and protection of species as well topics. as areas. I am interested in areas which • Farmers supporting and working are undisturbed as well as ones which are alongside charities to preserve being changed through generations. animals and nature. • Biological surveys. I will be looking further into country • UK Charities and Associations and urban environments. I need to (National Trust, RSPB, Natural establish a direct audience as well as England, Marine Conservation). a direct context. • Climate change and Human living, effects on plants and animals. I will need to explore a variety of ways I could communicate with the viewer and What I want to do and take what the outcome could be, so that it further and gain knowledge in: informs and communicates the issues I want to address and to make people • Develop Printing skills and think about the topic further and possibly techniques. one which they could interact with. • Use of a variety of materials and skills and knowing when a certain I want to make people aware of issues skill/material should be used which are a major concern. People are depending on the given brief. often the cause for nature’s disturbance • An understanding of a variety of and disappearance. It is important to environments and documenting. make people aware of these effects and • Gaining knowledge in conservation. why nature should be preserved for generations and not taken for granted. All ages can and should learn about these areas.
Contents 4-7. Experimentations with natural objects. 8-9. National Trust promotion work. 10-11. Animal cut outs. 12-15.Work on Badger article. 16-17. Research at the Grant Museum of Zoology. 18-21. RSPB bird watch work. • Digital and drawn. • Bird Lino cuttings. • Colour tests and final poster design. 22-23. Litter effects on birds. 24-27. Sea Gull lino cutting. • Lino test in the environment. • Poster layouts. 28-29. Mussel shells and litter. 30-35. Barn Owl lino cutting. • Illustration and cutting experimenting. • Article work. 36-41. First Hedgehog lino cutting. • Hedgehog experiments in their natural environment. • Poster ideas to create awareness. 42-45. Interactive information • Pop up and sliding books. 46-49. further book ideas and colour tests. 50-51. Research into children books and link to folder. 52-71. Final Book in Progress • A range of hedgehog cuttings. (52-53) • Sketches of book ideas and story. (54-55) • Hedgehog print tests in the environment. (56-57) • First page spread layout tests. (58-59) • Print test of first book. (60-61) • Book front cover tests and progress. (62-63) • Map tests and book layout. (64-65) • Map tests inside a book. (66-67) • Black and white layout and ordering. (68-69) • Progress of intro and final page layout. (70-71) 72-73. Final Book photographed 74. Evaluation 75. Bibliography
Leaf Cuttings A theme and technique from last semester I decided to develop further. I wanted to focus on the idea of a journey, the leaf takes. After this I decided to experiment with other natural materials.
Snow Experiments After the snow fell I tested out using it as a medium.
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I found an animal’s footsteps which had been dotted around the garden and so I decided to test out drawing the outline of the animal, as a way of documenting.
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An experiment to see how text would form in the snow.
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A large illustration of an individual snow flake.
Knightshayes Court I decided to create an illustrative piece of work which also worked with type. I decided to design a sign/plaque to represent a National Trust property
which has an ongoing plant conservation scheme. At this stage I was testing out illustration with typography and how they work together.
The Large Blue I took another topic from the National Trust and decided to create a small leaflet layout for a magazine advert.
I started by first illustrating the butterfly by using a graphics tablet and then illustrating a map and where in the country the species could be found. I then worked on putting the page layout together. I am not overly happy with the design and feel it could be improved.
Animal Cut Outs I wanted to highlight the disappearance of garden animals. Instead of creating illustrations or prints, I decided to create a cut out which would show a silhouette of an animal. I tested this in the day and night to see the different effects of sunlight and artificial light. I like the idea of how an animal can be simplified to just an outline (with no detail). But I felt I could not develop this much further and wanted to focus on illustration and printing.
The Badger Article I took an article from the guardian newspaper, about planned culls of Badgers to reduce the risk from TB. I wanted to use my illustration in a specific context and felt this would be a good starting off point. This is my first attempt to the article. I soon realised that the image didn’t reflect the article sufficiently and that I should rethink the actual article.
The Badger Article I started to rethink what I needed to do for the imagery and text to relate. I started by sketching ideas and making the original image darker as well as producing more material.
The Badger Article After playing around with layouts this was my finished piece. I also adjusted the type and made the title bigger and more eye catching.
The Grant Museum of Zoology (London) I went for a visit to this museum, which had a big collection of animals and bones. I decided to do quick five minuet sketches of the objects. I found this quite hard to do but felt it was a good exercise in practicing illustration skills of still life objects.
The Big Garden Bird Watch I wanted to use my illustration within a digital piece of work. I created this first image in relation to the RSPB Bird watch. After illustrating the bird I decided to use the text they had already created for the website. I wanted the poster to link in with the website. I was really interested in the outcomes of how digital and hand drawn worked together.
As part of the Bird Watch Idea, I created some Lino prints. I wanted to photograph more than one print together.
The Big Garden Bird Watch RSPB Above shows my pen illustrations which then develop using watercolour. I wanted to bring some more colour into my hand drawn work. This was my second design for the bird watch. I am a lot happier with this poster design. I feel it is more eye-catching and direct. It is also important to include the RSPB logo as it is recognized organization. From this I decided to look further into the effects on British birds, through environmental factors.
Bird Illustration I started to research further into the effects humans have on the planet and wildlife. The effect of litter on animal is a huge issue around the world. I started sketching out how this affects birds. I then thought about how I could use lino printed animals and portray them when caught in litter.
Seagull - Lino Print
PLASTIC & LITTER
pollution have an overwhelming impact on marine biodiversity. This is a
GLOBAL ISSUE and comes at a time when marine ecosystems are already suffering.
Seagull - Lino Print I wanted to create a lino of a bird which I could then take further and show it being caught in rubbish. A lot of waste is washed up on beaches as well as on land. I created this seagull as a full sized print. The larger the cutting the more detail I can show on the print. I then decided to work on poster layouts to create awarness. I wanted to explore the costal litter theme further.
Mussel shells Litter along the coast also affects species of plants and other animals. I collected these shells and also collected rubbish I had found on the beach. I wanted to create something 3D which would reflect the message, that litter left and washed up can affect wildlife. I decided to take the objects back to their environment and photographed them as a set so that I could create a promotional piece of work.
Barn Owl Lino
Barn Owl Lino A full size cutting of an owl. After reading about a scheme to encourage owls to survive I decided to create a piece of work in relation. Farmers are being encouraged to leave patches of their land untouched and not farmed to encourage a variety of species such as voles which owls then hunt. This new scheme is called Conservation Grade. I decided to test out illustration with the print first to see how I could illustrate different surrounds with the same print.
I tested out an article design. But feel the image is too large and looks more like a poster. Unfortunately I do not like the final design. But I was happy with the lino cutting images I captured on farmland areas. After much experimentation I was certain on creating lino cuttings and photographing them in their surroundings.
Hedgehog lino Cutting
Hedgehog lino Cutting Hedgehogs are disappearing and the causes do not seem to be known, only theories. I started by producing a simple lino cutting and then started photographing. I then thought about creating some worms to accompany the hedgehog. to represent the types of food hedgehogs eat.
Poster designs Two poster designs, for the British Hedgehog Preservation Society. I decided to create two speech bubbles (lino cuttings) so it seems like the hedgehogs where speaking. I was happy with both designs but the second one is to reflect an ash heap to communicate that people should check a bonfire before lighting. I feel this message is not conveyed strongly enough. From this I decided to research further into this animal, and think of more unusal ideas in which the information could be presented.
Interactive Information I thought about creating an information popup or interactive book. My aim was to make people aware of how to care for a hedgehog if it was found in their garden. My first image was to show that you should never feed hedgehogs milk as it makes them ill. So the image slides up to reveal the correct thing to do.
My next sliding image was to show how you shouldn’t pick up a hedgehog with bare hands. Thick garden gloves would be more sensible.
Ill and abandoned hedgehogs can often be affected when the weather starts to get cold, before hibernation. If they are found they should be wrapped in a towel ontop of a hot water bottle.
Overall Analysis of the Pop-up Book I really like how this design interacts. I think it would work well as a mini book. But I feel there are some technical issues, such as how it fits together and the neatness of the design which may be difficult to achieve. For this to work I think that it would have to be printed onto stronger paper or card. So that the movement works better and is not stiff to pull out or put back in. From this test I have decided to focus my final design into working on a book. Which is the area I am now going to narrow down and work on.
Mind map of my next ideas and where I felt my project could go at the time.
Digital and Coloured hedgehogs. I have been working only with black and white printed images so I decided to do a quick test to see how they would look in colour. Once they where coloured the detail could not be seen as well and also once place in an environment the image would not stand out clearly. I also tested out creating a character which I created digitally.
A Small Information Booklet. This was one of my next ideas (seen in the mind map). I wanted to test using just one individual print for the whole book, but using different parts of the image to focus on for each page. So I selected the different areas of the body and for every page gave information about it. I created a simple layout so it was not to distracting from the image.
I feel my illustrations would be more appealing to children rather than adults. But the text is more formal and directed towards adults. I need to create a balance between image and text for it to be suitable for children. Looking back at this test, there is definitely to much text and it needs to be more condensed.
Issuu Link: http://issuu.com/madelinejenkins/docs/book_layout_1
I think this style of this book is really appealing and unusual. It contains a simple story line and is purely a picture book. After looking at this book it made me think further of using colour with my lino cuttings.
A beautiful illustrated book, which also contains reading material. The typography (hand drawn style) and images work well for the style. I liked how each page gives an individual atmosphere and feel.
Research on Children Books I had decided I wanted to create a story for children so I first started by researching into other illustration books. This helped me come up with story Ideas and how the books are formatted. The link shows more research.
Issuu Link: http://issuu.com/madelinejenkins/docs/research_of_books
Further Hedgehog Cuttings I decided that to create a book about hedgehogs I would need to produce more cuttings. They needed to show different movements and positions.
On the left shows my sketch ideas. This was one of my more final ideas of the story and also first steps to a layout idea. My main theme was to show what a Hedgehog encounters in one day and it’s Journey. I also started to think about how a map could be incorporated within the design which I explored later on. Above shows further Ideas of a layout plan and placing and ordering.
This fooled the dog!
Photographs (Left)
it tried pushing me along with its nose but my sharp spines hurt it. The dog leaves me alone now and instead it chases sparrows.
I started by researching into many obstacles these animals encounter and then listed the main topics. I started to produce images relating to the specific topics and the basic story line I had put together.
I’m helpful to have around. I will happily gobble the slugs & snails in your garden.
(Right) I started by testing out text and image and how they could fit together.
I live here in this garden,
but I’m not confined to this area. I travel some distance on my nightly foraging, looking for tasty meals.
Book Layout Test These are examples of the double page spreads of an a5 book. I felt that this layout did not work as there was no white space and there is too much to look at, at once. It was also hard to fit text with the image because of the colours and shapes (so the text is not easily visible).
Issuu Link: http://issuu.com/madelinejenkins/ docs/book_layout_for_hedgehog_story_test_two
Book Layout Test I decided to space out the images and separate the text. I was a lot happier with this layout and also the type. I also moved some of the image from the previous page onto the next, to show that it is a journey and that it is leading on.
Issuu Link: http://issuu.com/madelinejenkins/ docs/book_layout_for_hedgehog_story
First book layout test This way my first layout test. I sent this book to print, to test how the sizing would look once printed, as well as the colours and image quality.
Issuu Link: http://issuu.com/madelinejenkins/ docs/book_layout_for_hedgehog_story
Printed Book I was happy with this first result although it had quite a few things I needed to change. I went through and made some notes on what needed to
be changed such as re-photographing. I also needed to re-write most of the text, to direct it towards children.
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Cover tests This was my process of deciding on a front cover. I wanted the imagery to be purely made up with just my lino cuttings. So I constructed a few examples and this was the final one I chose. My first test (1) didn’t work with the overall style of the book. So I thought of making it a lot more simple and only using black and white (2). After getting the black and white version printed I felt it needed some colour and so I decided to change the box to green, as well as the spine (3). I also made the image run to the edge of the page to link in with the other images within the book.
I started to work on producing a map, to document the hedgehog’s journey around gardens. I wanted to link in the map with the images already taken, to show what the Hedgehog encounters and where. I used a Google Map Image to work on first and then begun testing out the images and map together. The overlaid map wouldn’t be directly on top of the image. Instead I wanted to print it onto acetate which would slot between each page.
Issuu Link: http://issuu.com/madelinejenkins/ docs/book_layout_for_hedgehog_story_test_three
After contacting printers and thinking logically, I realised that getting acetate pages inserted between every spread would be difficult, unless I handmake the book. So I decided to try and incorporate the map into the book another way.
Issuu Link: http://issuu.com/madelinejenkins/docs/book_layout_with_ map_fadded
Black and White Book This was my last test. I wanted to test the images in grey scale to see if it would make the lino’s stand out more. I also changed the text to green to match the front cover.
I felt the black and white wouldn’t be that eye catching for use in a children’s book and so have decided to keep the images in full colour. But I have decided to keep the text in this colour as feel it looks better.
After completing all the pages and layout I printed the pages to scale. I then stuck them in order on a wall to test that the order worked well. I wanted to check that they read in a good order and that the story made sense. It was clearer to see the whole layout and structure in this way.
Introduction Page Left shows my first layout. I decided to use all the strip images from the left hand page of the spreads. After printing this I felt the page was too busy and the text was not clear.
I decided to use some other lino prints I had created instead of photographs. I felt this worked better as a layout. I then decided to change the colour of the text (same as cover colours and also text colour throughout book). Bellow shows the full page spread.
Back Pages After my first test using photographs I decided to change the imagery to lino cuttings (like I had done in the introduction page). I created a new simple cutting and then changed the text colour.
Front Cover
Title Page
The Final Layout Above shows the layout of one full page spread. The layout stays the same throughout the book for all the story pages. I am very happy with the overall appearance and so I sent this final book to print. Back Cover
Book Details Printers- Printed.com, A5 Landscape, Perfect Bound Cover Paper- Gloss, Cover Laminated – Gloss Single and Weight 300gsm. Text Paper- Silk, and Weight 130gsm.
The Final Photographed Book. The final books, I decided to test the books with the specific audience I had chosen. I wanted to see what their view was of book and if they could easily read the story. It was nice to see how they related the images and text.
Evaluation I began by completing and working on my first main thoughts which are stated in my proposal. I carried on with experimenting with natural objects and processes and used every opportunity. Such as when it snowed, I produced work relating to my subject area and also the illustration process. Some of these techniques and experiments didn’t always go further but I did learn skills and ideas from all of them. After last semesters feedback I knew that I needed to create my illustration work in relation to typography and a stronger meaning. So this was something I began to work on straight away. I found working on the Badger article (Guardian paper) as a good starting off point. It gave me a good topic to work with and to produce an overall piece of work for. I created a few tests and I was happy with the overall design. I found setting these mini tasks very helpful and it gave me new boundaries and ideas to work with.
After researching into hedgehogs and their decline I decided this would be my main topic of focus and to create a final piece of work which informs, educates and is interesting. After researching broadly into children’s books, I knew this was the audience I felt would be the most suitable. I started by testing popup books and something which would physically interact with a child. Unfortunately I had never tested this before and felt the risk was too high to do this as a final design as I was encountering many issues.
I started work on the final book. By testing different layouts I was able to narrow down the best options. I got views from non artistic people as well as tutors and other people in the university to help in finding the best layout and final outcome. After a small panic, I found a printer who would print A5 landscape (as lulu and blurb did not). The printers had a fast turnover peBefore I narrowed down my direct pathway, I started riod and so I was fortunate to print a few books as test by researching and also visiting museums. This gave me runs before I settled on the final design. I also found it further ideas and allowed me to test out new ways of illus- helpful to show people the progress of the design and tration and allowed to me understand different audiences. reasoning for changes. Most of the work I created went through stages of ideas and design tests. I created a few versions after my initial sketched ideas before completing a final design. I learnt a lot from this process and realised that testing different designs can be helpful and allowed me to learn more.
Printing the book helped me in realising what would need to be changed, such as image quality and colour. Also when I changed the stitching to a spine rather than saddle stitch I was able to see how much of the image I would be missing inside the fold. I had to alter the text layout because it was very close to the fold. So to get the book produced rather than printing it flat to test was very helpful.
I really enjoy working in a variety of medium and experimenting with processes which I feel is clear when looking through the portfolio. After these It was really helpful to show children my book and see experimentations I needed to narrow down the if they could read it and follow the story. It was nice to subject and finalise a specific process. see their reaction to some of the images and how they read the book. They tended to look at the image first I decided to revisit the last semester of work and to and then read the text which is what I had hoped for. I carry on with producing further lino cuttings. I tried wanted the book to be interesting for adults as well and to vary the process of the cuttings. I tested speech I feel that I have succeeded in this. bubbles and placing the lino animals with 3D objects (seagull and plastic bag). I also focused on making the I am very pleased with the final outcome and supportcutting for a specific reason, such as a poster design or ing work. This semester has made me realise that I can a leaflet. This led to article work and then developed complete a variety of tasks and I feel confident with into my final idea of creating a book. my use of illustration and how I can use it alongside my Graphic skills.
Bibliography Websites • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
BBC Nature Page at www.bbc. co.uk/nature/uk/getinvolved/ British Hedgehog Preservation So ciety at www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/ Conservation Grade at www.con servationgrade.org/nature-friendly- farming/ Dormice Website at www.dormice. org.uk/about.htm Global Ocean at www.globalocean. org.uk/take-action/ Hedgehog Facts at europeanhedge hog.webs.com/naturalhistoryfacts. Hedgehog Street at www.hedgehog street.org/ Help a Hedgehog at www.helpa hedgehog.org/ National Trust at www.national trust.org.uk/what-we-do/what-we- protect/ RSPB Bird Trust at www.rspb.org. uk/ The Daily Mail article on Migration at www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ article-1291090/ The Guardian article at www.guard ian.co.uk/environment/2011/ jul/13/badger-culls-increase-bovine-tb The Marine Conservation Scheme at www.mcsuk.org/ Tiggy Winkles (wildlife hospital) at www.sttiggywinkles.org.uk/index. Wildlife Trust at www.wildlifetrusts. org/
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Swirl by Swirl, Spirals by Nature by Joyce Sidman. The complete book of British Birds by Cady, Michael. The Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. The illustrated book of birds by Watson, Donald, 1918. The mammals by Carrington, Richard. This Little Chick by John Lawrence Type at work : the use of type in editorial design by Balius, Andreu. Wild flowers of Britain and north west Europe by Grey-Wilson, Christopher.
Individual Designers/Artists • Legas Delaney • John Dilnot • Paula Swisher • Murilo Melo • Kazuki Guzmán • James Cullen • Allan Peters | Minneapolis Advertising and Design Blog Blogs • www.thisiscolossal.com • shannoneileenblog.typepad.com • melaniewickhamlinoprints.blogspot. co.uk Animation/Moving image • Hedgehog in the fog
Television and Radio • Country File (BBC) Books • Farming today (BBC Radio 4) • Nature, Series 6 (BBC Radio 4) • A First book of Nature by Nicola • Winterwatch (BBC 2) Davies • Frog by Sheehan, Angela Exhibitions/Places • Hedgehog by Sheehan, Angela • David Hockney: A Bigger Picture • Just my type : a book about fonts • The Grant Museum of Zoology by Garfield, Simon