Graphic Narrative Evaluation

Does your final product reflect your original intentions?

My final product does reflect my original intentions and plans, however some changes were needed to be made to make the book more successful. The size of my book remained the same size as in my proposal however the number of pages changed. I intended to make 10 pages and resulted in making 9. This was because I realised I could merge two pages together so it would make more sense to the young children. Thankfully my actual story plot stayed the same and no drastic changes the were made so the story was completely changed. The “production methods” in my book stated I was going to use the rotoscope tool to create different aspects of my book. I did use the rotoscope tool in my book but I did not depend on it like I thought I would.

My proposal also stated I was going to use practical collage like the book “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” and scan into the computer to give my book originality. I did not follow through with this idea as I found I liked the paisley pattern background technique very successful, however I could have experimented with the idea of collage to show development through my project which is what I would do if I were to do this project again. Finally in my proposal I said I was going to make my book look “less realistic and more on the fantasy side so children can get more thrill out of reading it” which is exactly how my book turned out. I feel I have stuck very close to my proposal which in ways is good as I have proven I can produce a book that fits all of my goals, however it also shows I have not shown evidence of dramatic development.

How well have you constructed your images?

I feel like the overall construction of my images are successful in the sense that it is clear to understand what is going on. My images are consistent throughout my book and each page has the same quality and style characters and locations along with extra accessories to bring the page together. However I feel some of my pages are too busy. They perhaps consist of too many mushrooms and flowers and trees in the background and can detract from the main characters in the foreground which can be a problem when younger children/toddlers are trying to understand the story if they cannot read. The style of my book is quite different to others as I decided I wanted to use paisley patterns and use a clipping mask tool to create the backgrounds

to everything in the backgrounds, this included the grass, the trees and the flowers. This was to give my book a unique and individual style and I think it worked successfully. However I feel I could have gone further and used the paisley pattern style on the characters instead of using just the gradient overlay tool alone. My characters could have been more complex.

These are the two original designs for my caterpillars. As you can see the two drastically different colours make the two characters look very different, however the shape designs for each are exactly the same. The only differences are the colour of the bodies, the eye colour and the shape of the mouth. I could have made my protagonist (the grey caterpillar) more complex by changing the shape of his head etc. This is something I would definitely change if I were to do this project again.

How well have you used text to anchor your images

In my book I feel that I have used my text to anchor my images well but on a select few pages it could have been done better. Overall my text and images are easy to follow together, however on certain pages I have told part of the story in my text but haven’t been able to show this through the images without having to add another page. For example on page 4 of my book the text says how “all the other caterpillars laughed at him hysterically” yet in my page the other caterpillars are not seen. This is because I wanted to use a close up of the grey caterpillar to contrast the different shots and angles of the characters in my book instead of using continuous long shots. Also on page 5 I encountered a another problem. It says on page 5 “This made

the grey caterpillar smile” however in this page we see the grey caterpillar is sad as this is after he has been laughed at. I could not include two expressions from the same character on one page and two pages in the same location with the same characters would be inconsistent and boring. Therefore I decided to choose one expression on one page so the book and story flowed smoother for the readers. Looking at the books by ‘Julia Donaldson’ I can see she has anchored her text to her images. Each image is relevant and clearly linking to the text and both images and text separately can tell the story on every page.

Is your product suitable for your audience?

In my proposal I stated that my children’s book is to be aimed at male and female children between the ages of 3 – 6 years. I feel my book is very suitable for children of these ages as the pictures are colourful and easy to understand and the text is easy to read. The only thing about my book that is different to what my goal for my proposal was is the not having much text. Even though the images in my book overpower the text there is still several long sentences on some pages which can be a lot to handle for children starting to learn how to read. However, overall I think my book has successfully reached the criteria of my target audience and would be a book that children would both enjoy and learn from. “Dr. Seuss’s ABC” is an educational

children’s book that is for ages 3+. This is similar to the target audience age of my book. Dr. Seuss has shown dramatic and bold colour and interesting and fun characters to appeal to the very young children who are 3 years of age. Even though my book is not the same style as Dr. Seuss they are similar in how they both are successful for their age range.

I really like Seuss’s use of black and white characters and coloured background and letters. This is similar to my character and how he is black and white to make him different. Dr. Seuss has unique background and character style which makes his books something that inspired me to make a more unique looking styled book.

My book consists of a font that is very easily readable and that is simple for beginner readers to follow. Having a readable font in a children’s book is one of the most important factors as it can throw children off and cause they difficulty when reading it.

This first black bordered image is a screenshot from my book. The font is easily readable and it is an appropriate colour so it does not fade into the background. The bottom three photos are examples of fonts from children’s books. They are all simple and basic fonts in a simple format and are all easy enough to read for a young child.

What do you like/dislike about the techniques you have used?

I didn’t use a wide range of techniques. I mainly used clipping mask, shape warping and rotoscoping. On top of these techniques I used a lot of texturizing and using colour and gradient overlay for more effect.

These two illustrations have aspects to them which are similar to my book. The main aspect being the patterns. Some of the background such as the sky on the first image and the tree on the second image are both made of different type of patterns. This is the technique I used throughout my book to create my certain style.

I am very pleased with how my book result came out with the techniques I used, however there are techniques I did not like using and how they made things look on my book pages. For example I dislike the blue brush strokes on the grey caterpillar on page 3. My idea for the brush strokes was I wanted them to be fainter and a lot more faded with a gradient. I feel the brush strokes look very harsh and bold which is not how I wanted them to look, however I feel the effect is put across the same way and it is still clear to the reader what is going on. The last few pages consist of butterflies which I used the pen tool to create. I was pleased with using the pen tool as it allowed me to create the shapes that I wanted and allowed me to dictate how detailed the butterflies were. I created the rainbow butterfly (the grey caterpillar) with more detail than the blue butterflies as I wanted to give the rainbow butterfly more power and pride over the others.

What do you like/dislike about how your final product looks?

I feel my final product is consistent with characters, location and other details such as flowers, mushrooms, trees and insects. Each page has very similar or the same backgrounds and details, only the characters change positions and expressions. The thing that makes my book individual is the style of the backgrounds and details. Each and everything involving the background is created with paisley patterns to create a more surreal effect. These patterns also make the book more interesting to look at to children who cannot read so rely on the images to tell the story. This is what I like about my final product. I dislike how I have portrayed the sky on my pages. I simply used a gradient to create sight depth however I wish I had thought of a more

creative/ imaginative background for the sky as it is just as important as the grass as it takes up almost half of the background space. However I still feel the sky has an effect and works well with the other details on my background.

Here are two page examples from my book where I have used two different gradient effects to create different situations in the sky. The first page I used colours and a gradient overlay to make the location look sunny and bright. The second I have used grey and black tones with a gradient overlay to give a wet and cold effect. Also using a blurred paint brush and dark grey to create clouds gives it more of a dark and dull effect.

Why did you include the content you used?

The content of my book included colourful backgrounds, characters and details such as flowers and mushrooms. The style of my book is the things that makes my final product original. The content of my background consists of shapes of different colours created with paisley patterns. The majority of my background is created with paisley patterns therefore it becomes the most noticeable factor of my book. I used paisley patterns to create so much in my book because I feel that is gave my book a more unrealistic and fantasy effect which would attract the eye of the young children. Even though the main character of my book is grey, I tried to use many different bold and striking colours throughout my book. A lot of these colours

are drawn from the flowers and mushrooms in the background. I used such vibrant colours for these two details because my book is set all in one place, therefore the background setting and colour scheme is quite repetitive. I wanted to give some depth to the background so each page didn’t consist of only green hills.

Here is a page from the book “Look! There’s Elmer” by David McKee. The colourful patched elephant also known as ‘Elmer’ has a theme of patterns and vibrant colours in his books. In this page we can see there are many different colours and patterns explored. This idea of different patterns and textures links and relates to my book as this idea is very much what the book depends on to make it unique. The ideal age range for the Elmer books are 5+. This is an age similar to my book which infers the similarities between this book and my own is good.

What signs, symbols or codes have your used in your work?

When it comes to colour my colour scheme was not specific. I tried to use all kinds of colours to make my book interesting for children to look at. I use simple colours for main background (green, brown, blue etc.) however I used more dramatic colours for the additional details such as the flowers, mushroom and even the small bugs. The style of my book is very original. I tried to make my book stand out from the rest by using paisley patterns to create the backgrounds which gives my book an unrealistic fantasy effect which will be more exciting for the children. My book is set in an unrealistic location, because my book is a anti-realist narrative I decided to create a make believe meadow full of colourful talking bugs. This decision was made based on the caterpillars being able to talk which is unrealistic. The design of my characters is very simple.

They are created using simple shapes such as circles and rectangles and are warped and reshaped using an additional gradient overlay to create a depth. The butterflies are created with the pen tool to form unique shapes and patterns for the wings. My book puts forward the idea of using simplicity to create uniqueness and originality for the children to enjoy and learn from. On one of my pages I featured bad weather. When the grey caterpillars plan to pretend being blue fails, the rain washes away the stain from the bon bon leaf. This rain could be interpreted as pathetic fallacy as he is sad and the weather represents this. My book does not consist of many symbols. The only main sign or symbol is the bright colours which can represent the warmth and happiness of the meadow.

This is one of the caterpillars from my book. This is an example of how my design is simple yet effective. I chose to use the colour blue because it is bold and noticeable. Also I avoided using the colour blue for anything apart from the sky in this book so the characters would stand out on the page. If I were to do this book again I would change my characters by moving the eclipses to different positions to show the character moving in different ways. This would make the book more interesting.

This is a screenshot of part of my front cover and these are a few of the insects that are hidden on each page of my book for the children to find. These characters are created very similarly to the caterpillars however different shapes and colours are used. In some occasions different tools are used such as the opacity tool and the paintbrush tool.

What representations can be found in your work?

My book does not show representation of men and women or religion etc. however my main character is a different colour to the other characters. This can be interpreted in different ways, one way could be linking this to the representation of race. He is shown to be bullied and looked down on because of what colour he is. My book shows his different colour to be good and how he is equal to all other caterpillars. If looking at this as a representation of race and ethnicity then my book looks positively on this because the outcome shows how good being different to everybody else. The main representation in my book I am putting forward the idea of equality. How no matter how different one person is to the other, everyone should be treated the same.

What style have you employed in your products?

My book has a unique style. As I have stated earlier in my evaluation I have used paisley patterns to create my background setting and details such as the flowers and the mushrooms. I use different patterns for each different area of my background and I used a background for the tree. Once I had lay down the patterns I went over certain things on the page and added in a texture. I chose to add in certain textures because I wanted to give the pages depth. The textures compliment the pattern styles well and work together to add hints of realism to a book that is extremely unrealistic as it includes talking animals and a make believe meadow.

The patterns above are the three main patterns I used in my book. Number ‘1’ is the pattern I used for the leaves that where occasionally on the ground around my characters, number ‘2’ is the pattern I used for the tree and number ‘3’ is the pattern I used for the grass. These three patterns are very important when it comes to my book, especially ‘2’ and ‘3’ as they were seen in every page. I feel I chose effective paisley patterns for this children’s book project as each pattern is different and fits each aspect well yet they all fit together in the same style.

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What were the strengths and weaknesses of the pre-production and planning

My pre-production had its strengths and weaknesses. There were areas in my initial techniques that were not so successful. My shape task wasn’t very successful when I created a fox. I struggled with the shapes and textures of this animal so decided to create a panda which resulted in being more successful. I got the gradients and shapes accurate and managed to add an additional background for a more realistic effect.The planning and research stage of my pre-production were successful. For planning I produced a detailed mind map on my initial story idea talking about what I wanted in my book and what I wanted my book to look like. For my research I created a mood board consisting of relevant images towards my book such as ideas for background, characters and even font types. However I feel I could have extended my mood board with a broader range of images giving examples of things I could have experimented with. This was one of my weaknesses.

I think I handled my time appropriately. For pre-production I made sure I had enough time to thoroughly explore ideas for my book and collect examples to create an in depth plan. I also made sure I created mostly two examples of each technique for my initial techniques to make myself aware of what I am better at and what would work for my particular book. When it came to the actual production I made sure I stuck to my production plan. I managed to get one page done in each session adding all of the details etc. to completely finish each one off. When it got to session 10 I had finished all of my pages therefore I had time to create a front cover and back cover for my book.

This is one of my strengths of my planning/pre-production. This is a detailed mind map about the plan of my book about what my book is based on, where my book is set, what type of font my book will have and what my background and characters will look like. The only thing I am lacking in this mind map is “who” my book is for. I have no reference about target audience until my proposal.

The mood board is what I would say is one of my weaknesses of the planning/pre-production as I could have had more images of things I hadn’t thought about trying but maybe could experiment with. However I have consisted this mood board with images of almost all things I need to consider; colour schemes, backgrounds, locations, character design/style, font and different paisley patterns.

Historical and cultural contextMy story is based on the original fairy-tale “The Ugly Duckling”. The ugly duckling is seen as ugly because he isn't the same as his brothers and sisters and this makes him sad. However he grows up to become a beautiful swan. I took this story and twisted it into a caterpillar and made the protagonist a different colour to the others. In the end he becomes a colourful butterfly. I wanted to put across the message of being unique and different is beautiful. A similar book to mine is “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”. This is because the entire story is based on a caterpillar and in the end the protagonist transforms into a butterfly which is very similar to my story. I do not know of many book about caterpillars which is why I chose to create “The Grey Caterpillar”, however with a small amount of research I found the two books “The Crunching Munching Caterpillar” and “Percival the Plain Little Caterpillar”. These two books are shown as being popular caterpillar children’s books.

The Crunching Munching CaterpillarA twist on an old story as Caterpillar longs to fly but can't as he doesn't have wings. When he meets a butterfly she smiles a secret smile, for she knows it won't be long before Caterpillar is able to flutter away.• This book is very similar to mine as it

is about a doubting caterpillar who transforms into a butterfly at the end of the story. However my book is different to this story as my protagonist is upset with the colour of his body not the fact he doesn’t have wings.

The Caterpillar that RoaredHugo the caterpillar wants to be a lion, but he must learn to balance his dreams with being happy with who he is, in a funny and reassuring tale about growing up.• This book puts across the same

message as my book which is to always be comfortable with who you are and that being different is a good thing. This book consists of a caterpillar wanting to be something he isn’t which links with my book and how the grey caterpillar wants to be blue.

There is other similar existing material/ children’s books such as the Elmer books, which I briefly spoke about earlier on the evaluation, which use extreme colours and patterns to form the characters. The Elmer book style inspired me to use interesting patterns to create an unrealistic style to my book.

Above are examples of different characters in the Elmer series. The characters consist of different bold colours and exotic patterns to make each one individual. What I like about the Elmer books is every character is different which is something I wanted to experiment with in my project. I ended up creating characters that looked quite similar, even though they look effective I could have experimented with mixing up the designs of the characters to make them more interesting.