Cartoon Character Illustrators

In order to get a better understanding about one of my favourite concepts of design - illustration & Character Design. I have researched some children's books illustrators to get some inspiration into what I should include within my own pop up book. 

The first illustrator was the creator of the series of books by Dr. Seuss. By the time he died he had written and illustrated 44 children's books, including such all time favourites such as "Green Eggs And Ham", "The Cat In The Hat" and "How The Grinch Stole Christmas". 

The second illustrator I researched was responsible for the illustration and character design of the Roald Dahl Books. He has illustrated over 300 children's books. His work is portrayed as very sketchy but is well recognised throughout the world. Examples of his work have been included in book such as: "Charlie And The Chocolate Factory", "James and The Giant Peach" and "The BFG".   

Examples of Pop Up Books

These examples of pop up books have given me inspiration for my own final promotional packaging. Within my book I would like to use some tricks that other people have used to make the piece more interesting and playful. 

Within this video it shows how to add tabs within the page which can contain other pop up designs. This is something which I could like to incorporated within my book. 

This book is the story of alice in wonderland make by the designer Robert Sabuda. It's use of extra interactive pop up features help bring the story to life and get the reader involved.  This is exactly the concept in which I want to achieve for my own book, as I will use the character in which I designed to give it a story based theme.

Pop Up Experiments

I have been experimenting on creating pop up sculptures using card, and thinking how I may incorporate these into my final promotional packaging.

The idea behind it is to create a pop up book which is interactive and can get the reader involved. By using pop up shapes, children readers will be fascinated by the bold colours and fun nature. Wheres as the older readers will be impressed with the engineering of the sculptures.

Characters

I have designed 5 characters which are going to be included within my pop up book. They will be hidden within each page. I am going to give each character a back ground story, so that the readers feel more interacted with each one. The 5 characters are based upon my current flat mates who resemble typical teenagers. I wanted this "Where's Wally" styled book to be more up to date and involve real world issues that are around today!

The 5 Characters Are: 

I first designed these characters in my sketchbook and then scanned them onto the computer and used photoshop to add colour. 

Storyboard

While planning for my final piece I drew a few potential ideas in the way of a storyboard. Within these I wanted to convey the message of what I thought represented me as a designer. 

Within my first idea I thought of creating a few pop ups which resembled me, such as the Sheffield Hallam University building or a laptop with photoshop and illustrator. However when I thought about presenting it to my target audience, I believed they would find it to boring as it isn't interactive enough.  

However for my second idea I came up with the idea of doing a "Where's Wally" style book, but in a more modernised way. So I designed a few pop up pages which are relevant to me as a designer such as the word "Graphic Design and the Sheffield Hallam Building. Within these pages I will put small characters which the viewers will have to find. This makes the pop up experience more interactive and enjoyable. 

Final Piece Concept

For my final promotional packaging I aim to create a pop up book which is interactive with my target audience. I have been experimenting with pop up sculptures and researched artists which have used them in their own work. 

Within the book I want it to show what I am like as a designer. I will show development by creating a story board of all the pages which are to be included in the book. Once I finish the final piece I will present it to a year 1 class and gets their opinions on it. 

Final Logo Development

I chose the child drawing on the wall to be my picture aspect to my logo. But the next step is to experiment with the child's handwriting text for the typography.

While experimenting with the child's handwriting I realised that I needed to add a line representing the wall, as this gives the logo a sense of humour and being cheeky. As well the wall shows that the child is sat down which gives it perspective.

I used illustrator to add in the wall lines and shadowed effect. I found this relatively easy as I used the pen tool to create small vector lines. The next step was to add the typography, for this I used illustrator to create the children's handwriting font and used the same colour as the crayon which the child is holding. 

  

I am pleases with the layout of the typography, however I feel that adding joining lines from each word would give it a more childish and doodle like quality.

Final Logo Design

Children's Handwriting

In order for me to achieve the particular typography I wanted for my logo design I had to do some research on how primary school children write. So I got a few year 1 pupils to write a few words so that I could see how they form each letter.

I noticed some key features within there handwriting that their spelling was sometimes incorrect, as well as they didn't have the capability yet to keep their letters on the line. 

From this I realised that for my typeface I could try and recreate this by using their examples. So I chose to use a pencil to create the same texture and used my left hand to give the sense of a scruffy and child like nature. I believe it worked effectively and will be experimenting this typography within the rest of my logo design. 

Logo's Workshop

During this workshop we experimented using our initials into creating a logo which represented ourselves as a designer.

I found this workshop mentally challenging as it required us to think what shapes represented different meanings. For example a spiral is seen as a expression of creativity, process of growth and evolution.

I found my designs were using sharp crisp edges which suggests solidity and security, I believe this is appropriate to my particular style of work. I particularly like number 4 as it very simple and effective, as it is a silhouette image of two basic shapes. From this it creates an appealing composition.  

After the workshop I carried on experimenting further using my initials to create a sufficient logo which represents me as a designer. However I found that I wanted to include some form of character or picture to reinforce what represents me as a designer.    

 Some examples of logo's with characters or pictures can be found: 

HERE

Pseudonym

After playing with the idea of using my initials for my logo, I realised that I wanted to create myself a pseudonym. This is a name which a person or group assumes for a particular purpose and is different from their own. In my case I wanted a name which is playful and friendly that fits with my personality. As well it creates a sense of mystery into, "who are they?" and "what do they do?"

Examples of pseudonym names are: 

Jamie Foxx - Eric Marlon Bishop

Jay-Z - Shawn Corey Carter

Tiger Woods - Eldrick Tont Woods

I started to play around with the names that people knew me as, due to the fact that I wanted my pseudonym name to resemble my personality. This lead me to realise that I am still a child a heart, and thought that the use of a character within my logo could represent me. 

So as a result I experimented with names such as:

"Tommy Tibbles"

"Kid Clayton"

Clayton Junior"

"Master Clayton"

But I finally stuck with the idea of "Kid Clayton" as it has a playful and childish nature. 

Examples Of Pop Up Work

Some of these examples are insane, the amount of time and detail that has gone into these:

I think this pop up book is amazing due to its eye popping effects which the children love, as well as the technical engineering and unique art that everyone can marvel at. 

Inspiration For Packaging

In order to tackle this brief I have researched self promotional packaging that other designers have come up with. I have particularly liked how they incorporate well known packages and made it their own through typography and colour schemes. 

More Examples Here:

For my promotional packaging I have been exploring what I feel is the right audience to target to, and what is it I want it to say.... 

I feel that as a designer I am more incline to a childish nature, by using characters and bright colours to portray my personality. 

Watch this video it's amazing: 

This book is one of my favourite pieces of pop up experimentation, as it is playful and get's the viewer involved. 

For my final piece I would like to create a similar book like this one. Instead of creating pop up alphabet letters, I would like to create a story. This would be based on my life as a designer using pop up paper experiments. 

In order to achieve this packaging idea, I will practice creating pop up scenes that could be incorporated within the story.