Developing the Final 3D Artefact

Now that I have decided to make a board game for the 3D artefact, I am ready to began digitalising my ideas ready to be added to the books. So I took my sketched ideas and I went into Photoshop to do the finished version and this is how it turned out:

Hexagons are more difficult to account for in scale and position than a usual rectangular or square board game tile. So I had to make sure it would all fit whilst at the same time allowing for three players at a time. The idea of this board game is each player has to get from the bottom to the top of the board first. I am also thinking about making some of the tiles question tiles about bees and what the reader will have learned in the book. The right answer allows the player to moved another space. Moving to the next space will be achieved by rolling a die which is colour coded to each player. A matching colour equals a step forward. 

This is where the 3D aspect comes into play because the die is made from a simple net that is cut out of the book. This is easy to construct with instruction I will include in the book. It requires a small amount of materials too that are usually readily available. Here is a photo of a mock up die I made to test out if the weight of paper was enough to have a fair die:

Peer Assessment Feedback

Yesterday I attended the peer assessment for this module and it was really useful to see how everyone else is tackling this brief and to get much needed feedback on what I have done so far. I feel like I am on track with everyone else now even though I thought I didn't know exactly how to take my brief to the next level. However, after the feedback and viewing of other work I was much more comfortable with where I am going with my work.

Here are scans of the feedback I got:

Final Book design Prototypes

Here are my final ideas for the inside of the children's book. It is loosely based around 'Finding Nemo' hence the character being found is called 'Beemo' and will have similar characteristics to 'Nemo' with one wing smaller than the other. Whilst looking for the bee, reader will learn the most popular habitats for bees and why. Here are images of the prototype in it's first phase:


*Click to enlarge*

I decided to go for a combination of hand drawn work and digitalised work because I like the personality and uniqueness it gives with imperfections and it also relates more to how children draw. I tried to use vibrant colours but not too vibrant as to be sickly to the eye (since this is the feedback I got from previous work of the book cover). I do however think I could have added a bit more variation in colours. I might redraw the shed as it is a bit messy. The type is a little hard to read with no backdrop and it might be too fancy for the child to read too. In later designs I will include an ending with the lost bee, 'Beemo'.

Final Prototypes: Development

Here are drawings which I will later scan into Photoshop to use in the final book prototype designs.

I have decided on which 3D artefact I want to add in the book, a board game of some type. However to get more of an idea of the layout, size, shape, material needed and rules I need to do a bit of research. I know that I want to go for a hexagonal layout with each hexagon being a space the player can move. However that is really as far as I know I want it so far. Here are some images of various board game I could find as appropriate:

I really like the idea of the last image of a board game. It is a snail race where a dice are rolled and the corresponding colour gets to move forward. I used to play this game as a child myself. In fact it was so fun I played it with myself!

Sketches and Initial Designs: Reverse Book Cover

I did some more sketches and designs for the reverse side of the book cover. I Started to settle on having a cartoon style for the bee designs and decided this is how I will approach the art from now on. The designs here are varied but they gave me some good ideas. Here are some photos:


*Click to enlarge*

Student Feedback

In this past lesson, we looked at each other's work and gave our feedback as to which areas we need to improve and which areas were good in our initial designs for the brief. We also chose which designs stood out from the rest. This was a good exercise and really helped me understand the brief a lot better. I also learned a lot about my work and what needs to be improved. Here is a scan of the things the other students wrote about my work:

*Click to enlarge*

The feedback was overall quite positive but the were areas to improve such as more research (primary and secondary), how to improve the book cover in previous blog post, ideas for the 3D artefact. This was a very helpful session and seeing everyone else's work with some being really good motivated me to get stuck into my work more.

Draft Final Cover

After doing some rough sketches of the front book cover for the final design, I settled on this as a potential final draft so I have been working on it although it isn't set in stone and is only a first attempt of a digital version. I decided to use very vivid colours to depict a summer scene when bees are most active and I think children prefer the more vivid colours as opposed to dull colours. 

The bee I chose to design I simplistic and cartoon-like again for children's appeal. The type used is very synonymous with a bee theme with the stripes and honey-like shape of them. With the 'Bees' part of the title being emphasized in scale to be a more focal point of the cover. I used some light gradients in the image to give a bit more detail but not too much gradient to avoid over-saturating it all. 

For the background I went for a gradient sky-blue colour to show the bee flying. I couldn't really decide whether to include grass or other colours because the flowers look a bit like they are in the sky however, I didn't want to over crowd the image and I think it gives the image more of a montage feel. The less colours used in the image also make it easier on the eyes. 

Roughs and Sketches for Final Brief

Text from photo: 
"Here are some roughs for the front cover. I have chosen to go for a more cartoon approach for the bee drawings to appeal more to children. With the exception of the close-up of the bee's face (top right) which I think might scare children more. My favourites are the coloured cover designs. I also like the hex-design too."

This top design is designed to be colourful and happy with the bee smiling and giving it character. I sort of got the proportions wrong with the bee hive and the bee but it was hard to get this right with the size of the cover. This could be amended though in a later design. The background could do with more content too like clouds or the sun or tree or more bees.

The bottom design is nicely made I think with how it is arranged. There is not much in the picture but I think the simplicity works and it shows what is intended of the content that would be inside. I think the background needs colour too. In a later design this would be added and the type would also be better.

I couldn't really take a great picture of the left design however I like how I incorporated the bees into the title. The hexagonal corners might be too big as well leaving little room for other content. The design on the right is my attempt at a more realistic drawing of a close up of a bee's face. This however might freak children out and deter them from reading the book if this is the cover. 

3D Artefact Ideas:

Here are some artefact ideas I had for the children to get involved in. I had to keep in mind that the artefact were able to be included in the book and easy to use and make with acquirable materials. I think my favourite idea is the board game idea because I think it could be really fun as long as I can come up with some good rules for the game.

Typography Styles

I started having a look at some different typography which I think would work with this particular brief.

I thought that the style of the text should be quite bubbly and round like bees are usually portrayed. I also looked for honey-like designs to match how bees make honey.

Bee Research

For the brief I started doing some research into bees. Including how they are designed and drawn in various ways.

Here are some of the best and most suitable drawing styles for bees and the brief set. There are really only two kind of paths to take, either cartoon designs or more realistic detailed approaches. I really like the watercolour style (middle-right). However the simplicity of some of the cartoon styles with faces really gives it character.

I looked at some articles and other sources on the internet and found some useful facts about bees:

- There are nearly 20,000 known species of bees in seven to nine recognized families.

- Bee pollination is important both ecologically and commercially; the decline in wild bees has increased the value of pollination by commercially managed hives of honey bees.

-Bees range in size from tiny stingless bee species whose workers are less than 2 millimetres (0.08 in) long, to Megachile pluto, the largest species of leafcutter bee, whose females can attain a length of 39 millimetres (1.54 in).

-Humans have kept honey bee colonies, commonly in hives, for millennia. Beekeepers collect honey, beeswax, propolis, pollen, and royal jelly from hives; bees are also kept to pollinate crops and to produce bees for sale to other beekeepers.

Week 7 in-lesson task

During week 7s lesson we were asked to make a step by step guide on how to read a book. I found this task quite unusual because how to read a book is not difficult if you can read. However I started planning and here are some scans of my preparation:

I made a mind map and a few sketches to try and understand the best way to guide someone on how to read. I then went ahead with a final design:

Roughs of Bee Brief- Double page spreads- Coloured

Here are my initial designs for the bee brief. I chose to use the same colours throughout to keep consistent and work with the colour of bees to create a theme. I think the combination of orange text and black outlines works well.

In this first page, I was trying to decide how I wanted to depict bees. I know that this brief is to be aimed at an audience of children but I kind of like the more detailed drawings of animals that you'd see in other animal books.

In the second page, I was having problems deciding what to fill in the blank spaces. The type I chose for the titles was chosen to be appealing to children, easy to read and sort of honer like if that makes sense.

Learning Methods

1.  What kind of learner (or mix of) do you think you are?

I think I am a combinations of visual and kinesthetic because auditory learning is hard to remember.

2. Why do you think this, please explain by giving one or more examples.

When it is visual you have something to refer back to if you forget and it is more permanent than auditory. Kinesthetic gives you an experience of the subject and therefore you can rmember the experience in a practical sense.

3. When you were a child in school did you use specific techniques to try to learn better?
    What were these, please give an example.

Repeatedly doing the subject until it stays in the memory and referring back to the visual material.

4. What situations do you find it difficult to learn in and what would help you (personally) to improve upon this?

Listening to someone describe something with only words because it is hard to remember without taking notes and it is hard to keep up. I think giving out sheets or include other visual elements or exercises.

5. When you do research for a module, do you have any ‘tricks’ that help you (personally) better take in the things you find and to relate them to projects ongoing? Please give one example of more if ‘yes’.

I think when trying to understand a subject in a module, highlighting text that is important and learning what it means is effective. Having accompanying notes and imagery for the subjects helps too.

6. Has hearing this today given you a ‘lightbulb moment’? If ‘yes’ then why?

It has sort of made me think more about how I could improve my learning experience by using the learning methods that work best with me.

Task 03- I Can Cook!

So the task I got this week was to produce a double page spread of a recipe from the CBeebies show I Can Cook. I chose to make one for Veggie Burgers:

I chose just a couple of simple colours that stood out and made it look friendly and easier to follow. The type that I chose had to have childish qualities to it but also maintain the ability to be easily followed whilst cooking. I accompanied each stager of the cooking process with an image to aid the children in the reading so thy knew what things looked like. 

I went with a chopping board theme for the text backdrops so they didn't clash with the background of the pages. The images were circular to give some variety to the page layout but I also wanted there to be a theme running throughout so I used interchanged colours to form a pattern on the text backdrops. I was struggling to think of what kind of content to add to the page as the background because I didn't want the background to detract from the text too much. I went for a gradient in the end but it may look a bit plain.  

Task 02- Audiences/Age Ranges

I have been asked to identify one general ‘art style’ that would be suitable for each of these audiences:

• Information/Reference title - Aimed at 9-11 years olds.

• Baby/Toddler - First Objects Book.

• Picture book - Aimed at 3-6 year olds.

Information/Reference title - Aimed at 9-11 years olds

Illustration by Nicholas Blechman

This is an info-graphic from a series about animals and this particular graphic is about food chains and animal diets. I think that this is suitable for the age range because of art style- it is not too detailed so that the focus is more on the information that the imagery is trying to convey. The text is concise and easy to understand. The imagery used is also simplistic using familiar objects like a fork to explain that it is about food. However there are some more detailed diagrams with arrows and meters since the age range here is 9-11 so they can understand more. 

Baby/Toddler - First Objects Book

Roy Campbell - My Day

This is a small book about a day in the life of a toddler. This book fits into the age range well because of the very little amount of text. The art style is friendly with vivid colours and the sort of style you would see in a cartoon on tv. Each object in the book has it's name next to it and allows some interaction for the reader; on the lower picture you can see the text asking the reader to find all the objects on the page. This creates a good method of learning each object. 

Picture book - Aimed at 3-6 year olds

Axel Scheffler- The Gruffalo

I think that this book is great for this age range because of the more detailed art style and more involved story. The art style is really nice to look at with bold colours and think outlines. As you can see in the top picture there are also varying style in how the images are shown to not detract from the text. I think that the fact there is more text is an important feature of this book because at the age this book is aimed at, the child needs to learn how to read better. I remember reading this when I was younger and enjoyed it.

Task 01- Children's Illustrators- Initial Research

In last week's session, we watched a documentary about children's books of the past and how they pathed the way for future books. One of my favourite writers and books talked about in this documentary was a book written by Pat Hutchins called Rosie's Walk. I like this book a lot because it relies a lot more on the visuals in the book which is what children learn quicker and more easily.

As the hen makes it way through the farm and through fields. It is being pursued by a hungry Fox. This is not easily noticed by the adult because they are busy reading the text. The child notices it first and this creates an interesting level of interaction for the child. 

If the adult notices they can pretend they down to make it more entertaining for the child. The Fox is never mentioned in the text to allow for extra stealth for the Fox. Because this book is more visually weighted with little text, the imagery style is very nice in texture and design with unique patterns on everything. 

As the story develops the Fox starts to gain on the hen. However each time he tries to attack the hen, he gets caught in a trap in a comedic fashion each time the page turns. This plays on the classic children's cartoon story like Tom and Jerry or road runner which were very popular tv shows. When I was a child, I always enjoyed the more visual side of books with higher levels of interaction. I liked the books where you had to find things and solve puzzles. 

I think this book would have been aimed at 6-10 year olds because some younger audiences might be frightened of the fox. Also the small maount of text in the book and the focus on imagery suggests it is for younger audiences.