Illustration Style

With this project relying on illustration as well as factual information, it is important that I find a style of illustration which is appealing to children.

I really like this style as it's the kind of style I like to draw in often, however I think it's far too detailed for the type of work that I'm doing and I can't imagine it printing very well on worksheets.

Image shows concept art of the movie 

Prince of Egypt 

I think something like this would be much more appropriate. It's humorous, fun, simple yet effective. To a child of 9, I also think this is much more appropriate than the one above. I have to remember it is worksheets I am illustrating, not a book...or a Disney movie! 

This image has the same kind of humour. I think I'm leaning much more towards the similar side of things with inspiration from images such as these. 

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So far I have done a few illustrations just to warm up and try to find out which style is most appealing for me to then put to use. Once I have a few more, I aim to get feedback on this, but here are a few for now...

EGYPTIAN STYLE ART 

This is a style I wanted to try. Egyptian artists drew flat and never twisted the body. Shoulders were broad, the face was in profile and no face was ever pictured from the front. The eye was also placed directly on the side of the head. I quite like this because it's simple, easy to cut out and I could see it sitting well on my worksheets with information. 

These drawings I've done are more 'free,' perhaps more in my own style I'd say, but still trying to keep it 'Egyptian-y' with the flatness (especially of the Pharaoh in the front) 

Action - Develop more illustrations and find a style that suits best 

It's 'reading' week, so I've been reading...

During reading week, I've been researching - reading books both for my client brief and for my Critical Reflective Studies.

Although I'm waiting on a response from my client, I've began my sketchbook, started to experiment with illustration styles and found valuable research into the Ancient Egyptians.

A few weeks ago I bought a couple of books -  'Tony Robinson's Weird World of Wonder's - Egyptians, 'Horrible Histories - The Awesome Egyptians,' 'Horrible Histories - The Awful Egyptians.' Last week I finished reading 'Weird World of Wonders' which has really given me great insight into the style I want the information to come across in. Tony Robinson is great at taking factual information and putting it across to children in a humorous way - one that is memorable and easy to digest. It can be hard for young children to remember historic dates ad facts, but I think the way Tony Robinson goes about it makes it much easier.

Here is an advertisement for his book 'Weird World of Wonders' where he does exactly that...

Horrible Histories does this also, although I have only just begun to read through 'Horrible Histrories - The Awesome Egyptians,' I'm familiar with the Horrible Histories t.v show from my days at school. I've refreshed my memory on some of their t.v shows by watching them on Youtube. This was one of my favourites I found...

I love the way they have taken the facts of Egyptian medicine and turned it into a comedy sketch, making it all the more easier for children to remember. This video makes the facts comedic, but still true non-the-less

As I've been reading through the books and watching these shows, I've been taking notes and thinking a lot about how I could do the same way with the information I'm finding on Ancient Egypt. This is my secondary research and I think it's an important aspect because this project relies heavily on target audience and having to create the right tone for children to take in the information.

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Action - Consider target audience and how humour can be incorporated into the general approach of this activity pack

The three different learning types

An important area for me to consider when planning my client project is the different ways in which children learn.

There are many different types of learning, but I have listed the main three below:

Visual - engaging with written information, concept and ideas, seeing written instruction

Auditory - Learning through listening to instruction

Kinaesthetic - Engaging in physical activity and taking a hands-on approach. Trying for yourself.

Sometimes educators use a combination of these so each learning technique is covered in the classroom. Students all have different ways that they find comfortable to learning new things, so by covering each of these learning types, it gives children an equal chance to learn with their preferred technique instead of favouring one learning method over another.

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Action - I'm aiming to do this in my activity pack. I have already gone over the things I want to include and made sure that the learning techniques were varied to be able to cater to each different way of learning.

Amended and posted off my letter

This one sounds a lot better and straight to the point. It only needs to state three main things;

• Who am I?
• Why am I contacting them?
• What I do want from them? 

Dear Mr. Beard, 

Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Donna Mallett and I am studying Creative Media and Visual Communication at The Manchester College. My tutor, Alexandra Jackson’s son Jay goes to your school and recommended I contact you as I’m doing a project you might be interested in.

As part of my third year degree module, I aim to develop an educational activity pack based on Ancient Egypt, that includes facts, puzzles, illustrations and craft based activities. The pack is aimed at Key Stage 2 children.

For this purpose I need to be in-touch with an established educator who would act as my client. If at all possible, it would be beneficial for my research if I could visit the school to hand out questionnaires and gather feedback so I can determine the needs of the stated target audience.

Any help that you can offer would be beneficial to my studies.

Thank you for taking your time to read my letter.

Kind Regards,

Donna Mallett

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Action - Also send an email to Libby Moony who may be able to help me out with finding a tutor if this doesn't work out. 

Contacting Schools

Here are some of the schools I've contacted:

Benchill Primary
St. Wilfred's Aided Primary School, Nortenden
St Aiden's Catholic Primary School
Acacias Community Primary School
St Andrews Primary School
Medlock Primary School
Plymouth Grove Primary School
St Margaret's Primary School
William Hulme's Grammer School
St Brigid's Primary School
William Hulme's Grammer School
St Patrick's Roman Catholic Primary School
St Anne's RC Primary School
St Anthony's RC Primary School
Northenden Community Primary School
Ringway Primary School
The Willows Primary School
Manchester Enterprise Academy
Rack House Primary School

I've taken a special interest in Northenden Community Primary School because my tutor Alex has a son that goes to the school and has offered to hand a letter over to the headmaster for me....

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Dear Mr. Beard, 

Hello, my name is Donna. I’m a student studying Creative Media and Visual Communication at The Manchester College. Alexandra Jackson as has a son, Jay that goes to your school and recommended me to contact you as I’m doing a project you might be interested in. As part of my third year degree module, I’d like to do a project aimed at Key Stage 2 children. I aim to come up with an educational activity pack for primary students based on Ancient Egypt that would include facts, puzzles, crafts and illustrations.  

For this purpose I need to be in-touch with an established educator who would act as my client. As I’m planning on taking my PGCE next year, it would be beneficial and much appreciated if I could spend a few hours in one of your classes to observe learning techniques and hand out questionnaires to a few students to determine my target audience.

"If you would be able to help me with my proposal I would be extremely appreciative as it would benefit my studies no end."

Thank you for taking your time to read this letter.

Kind regards,

Donna Mallett

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Action - Get feedback on letter, amend if needed and email it off 

Intro to Indesign

I've had InDesign on my Mac for a while but I'd never really looked at it until now. I think it's going to become my friend! Yesterday we were taught the following:

• How to set up a word document with the correct sizes, margins etc
• How to set up a grid that's essential for the correct placement of text and imagery 
• How to amend text
• How to bring in imagery

We put together a basic letterhead using our own logo (which I unfortunately I accidentally deleted, but I'll be making another copy of it shortly which I'll post) 

I found the intro helpful and something that is definitely going to be beneficial for the type of research files we'll be producing for this module as well as the one for Sarah. It beats doing it in Microsoft word anyway! 

Personality - goals

After taking the personality test, we were asked to answer questions in tie with our goals and aspirations:

What do I want to start? 

• Working more from my own initiative and experiment more without needed the reassurance of others opinions. Be more free. 

What do I want to stop?

• Over-thinking things, live in the now, do my best in the moment and accept what will be will be instead of worrying about what could happen in the future. If I worry in the 'now' then it could make the future turn out for the worst. Focus on the good things. 

What do I want more of? 

• More time to develop my illustration style and add pieces to my portfolio.
• More time to read. I have a lot of books on design concept which I've barely touched.
• I'd like more time with my family that live 5hours away.
• Manage my time well so that I can split it effectively between uni work and my own projects. 
• Travel to places and take a mature responsibility to my own finances.
• Make sure I do well on this course so I can take a PGCE.
• It's important that my family is proud of me as well as myself.

What would enhance my life? 

• To finish my degree so I can progress and get to where I want to get to
• A good solid career in teaching with freelance illustration on the side
• Financial stability - home/security
• To be able to take trips and holidays
• Developing my illustration skills so I can illustrate children's books and magazines