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.