Fortune in situ

I went down to the bookshop to photograph my completed book in situ. It was a really nice experience, I met a lovely man who was a big fan of the book and was really helpful in helping to re-arrange the shop to make space for 'Fortune'. It really looked like it fitted well on the shelves of the children's section. I enjoyed doing this a lot, I think it's important to look at current design to see where yours fits in the market.  

Helen Firmin

Helen Firmin the the daughter of Peter Firmin and also an illustrator. She is the designer of the No.1 ladies detective agency book covers by Alexander Mcall Smith. I really love her use of colour and texture, something i've really been focusing on in my work. I decided to email her with some questions, I asked:

What made you want to be an illustrator?

Who are your influences?

What are you favourite techniques/processes?

Do you have any advice for aspiring illustrators?

She replied saying:

Dear Bea, 

               Thanks for your nice email. I'll try to answer your questions...

I grew up surrounded by people drawing/ making things ,it was normal for me and my five sisters to do creative stuff! So art college was a natural progression. At the RCA I started to enjoy printmaking more and it emerged as my area to work in. I always loved the 'narrative' , having stories read to us from an early age and seeing my father and Oliver Postgate working on film and books helped .

My influences are wide , Edward Ardizzone for stories ,Edward Bawden ,Claire Leyton,Thomas Bewick ,Picasso for printmaking .Just a few of the people who have influenced me. 

I use Lino and wood cut techniques but have often combined them with paint and collage , especially for commercial work that is a 'one off' piece , and not an edition. 

My advice ,briefly , is to concentrate on finding a way of working that suits you personally.if you seriously want to earn your living and enjoy doing that from your work you must find a way that you love and then go out and try to sell it! Things are changing hugely at the moment in the media .After 30 years (!) of working continuously I find I am doing most of my work for exhibit ion and selling at venues and galleries .This suits me now ,but shows how adaptable you need to be to make a living. 

Look at and be informed about past and present work that is going on and most importantly enjoy what you do!

All the best with your studies and work. Keep in touch via my website ie see exhibitions I 'm doing ect. Good luck! Hannah 

It was a really nice email and It gave me a lot to think about.

Book Cover design

When it comes to children's book covers there are various different ways of going about designing them. I've chosen a few varieties to see what sort of thing fits into the current children's market.

This cover incorporates large text and the title character. It's easy to understand and self explanatory. It also uses bight primary colours which makes it aesthetically pleasing and child friendly.

In this cover, the image is central and the type is slightly more oriental. I don't think it's as clear to read and if you didn't know what the book was about, i'm not sure it's a very good representation. 

In this cover, the type has been placed inside the image. I quite like the idea of using imagery to frame the text, it's a good use of text and quite a clever idea. 

The text looks quite crowded here, and the colour is almost too bright. However, I would know what it was about as little red riding hood and the big bad wolf are very recognisable characters. It is also quite lively and friendly and I think children would like it.

I really like this cover, I think it works really well. The colours are nice to look at, the image is very playful and very suggestive. It's intriguing and I want to read it. I like the use of really simple type - overall I think it's really successful. 

This is a nice simple cover design. It's self explanatory, the type is clear and I like the colour scheme that has been chosen. My criticism would be that it doesn't necessarily brand itself well as a children's book. It's not very playful and the colours are quite bland. 

I like this cover a lot. It stands out because of the bold use of colour, the quirky illustrations and the positioning of type along the top and the bottom. I think it's a really successful design.

I also think this cover is quite clever. Making the type and the lollipop read is a good design decision  and the positioning of the lollipop has been well thought out and it really quite clever. I like the angling of the type, it fits well with the imagery.

I think this has too much type, it looks over crowded and doesn't fit well on the page. I like the illustrations but I think they should take priority over the text and not the other way round.

Peter Firmin

Peter Firmin is responsible for the creation of some of the most popular and successful children's illustration. Some of his most famous creations include Bagpuss, The Clangers and Noggin the Nog. These are also a big influence to me. I love his whimsical style and the energy in his drawings. The characters are easy to sympathise with and the illustrations speak for themselves. In my children's book, I am focusing mainly on the images to do the talking, I think it's important that images don't necessarily need type for you to understand them. 

Tony Ross

Tony Ross is a children's illustrator. I am really inspired by his style and have always been influenced by his work. He works mainly using ink and watercolour/pencil which is the technique I have recently developed for this project. I re-read a few of my favourite stories of his for some inspiration. 

Korky Paul

Korky paul is a very successful cartoonist and illustrator. I love the attention to detail in his work, there is so much surprise and although I read these books as a child, it is only on re-reading them that I have discovered this. I really like this idea, I think it gives the books an edge that others might not necessarily have. In my book, I am focusing on several subtle details such as each place 'Fortune' visits, she gets another luggage label on her suitcase. I think it's good to have a bit of fun within the illustrations as ultimately I just want to make people smile when they look at my book. 

Beatrix Potter

Beatrix Potter was a massive success in children's illustration. She created characters that generation after generation of children have grown up loving. What is it about her illustrations that make them so successful? i think it's because you are able to relate to the characters and follow them in their adventures. I also think it's because they have such memorable faces. I think it's important to design characters that people can remember, hopefully people will be able to remember Fortune the magpie! 

Type research

I went to the bookshop to do some research into the language and quantity of children's illustration. I wasn't sure about the amount of type expected in children's literature and for what age groups. 

This is a Jacqueline Wilson book designed for children who are just starting to read by themselves. There isn't loads of type and the images fill the majority of the pages. The language used is simple and self explanatory. There are a lot of conversations between characters because this makes it interactive and also interesting if the book is being read to s child.

This is a Francesca Simon story illustrated by Tony Ross. It's similar in the way the image takes up the most of the page and the text is just the accompaniment. There's a lot of conversation in this also. I think both of these examples have a lot of similarities and are probably aimed at children aged 7-10. I don't think I want loads of type in my book, so this was useful to research. 

Babbit is written for younger children and is probably a closer representation of what i'm hoping to create. There's very little type and it's incorporated within the images which I like. I like the variation in the sizing of certain words. I think it gives it quite a playful aspect which is good for a children's book. 

Overall I learnt quite a bit about what is expected when writing a book specifically aimed at children. I think it's important not to over complicate it and to focus mainly on the imagery to speak for itself. 

Type

Charlie and Lola is a very popular current children's book. I really like the use of type that Lauren child uses. The use of italics and bold fonts give emphasis to the story and help the reader to give it emotion. I like the typewriter like font as well, it's quite a simple idea but an effective one.

I looked at many other children's books but most of them just had as normal font that was gridded in straight lines across the pages. I don't think that I want something ordinary because I quite like when the font is designed to compliment the images. Because all my drawings are hand rendered I decided to create a font out of my handwriting. I did this online by filling out a grid with each letter, scanning it in and paying for the right to use it. I am really pleased with how this turned out and will be using it as the font for my book. 

Book design

Some general research into the aesthetics of pleasing book design

I really like this. So simple and so effective. Nice use of paper and layout.

This is a really effective use of theme. I like the end papers the colours and the book jacket being cut to represent the sea. Clever, well thought out - designed with a purpose.

This is a good use of colour, shape and imagery. I am drawn to the yellow and it contrasts well with the grey. 

Clever use of papercut. 

This is an interesting bind. It's effective because not only is it practical, it's also an entire design in itself. 

Similarly, this bind is nice. I like how the middle stitch continues over the whole cover.