Part 5 Exercise 6: Working for Children

 Collecting childrens imagery, I made a few collections of the pictures (books, food, toys, hygiene products) in general and there arent very obvious differences in the 'kids' age group.

Trying to seperate some into the groups was a quite hard.

 

 

Are the target age brackets for children as clear-cut as we’ve made them here?

I don’t believe there is a definitive age brackets on a lot of kid’s things, things containing children’s imagery varies not only from a packaging/book/toys and visual perspective but the individual themselves. They could be children who are in the 3-5 age bracket but be more intrigued and capable of being a attracted to typically older kids objects or imagery. On the other hand, there could be an older kid 7-9 who still resonate with younger imagery and younger illustrations simply because of colours, characters, and they’re still in the midst of childhood. Every child and adult are different so even an adult could enjoy and maybe even appreciate the message of the child’s book or toy or object. It’s all subjective.

 

How did the function of image and text differ within the different age groupings?

For younger children there is a lot of the popular cartoon show characters such as pepper pig, paw patrol and frozen, whereas things maybe directed at more older children or adults are always bright and colourful with cartoonish or bubble text. I think a young child that isn’t experienced in reading images are what the companies rely on to make they’re products attractive to kids and when adults see that their favourite characters are on something it’s a lot more incentive to buy that item. I think things like 7–9-year-old the text is bold enough for the to read and accompanied with colours and some imagery or animals o random characters it’s the same principle of appealing to younger kids through pictures but now a child is established at reading pictures aren’t relied on as much. As for adults they’re a lot more aware of things they like want and need so there isn’t much of a push on flashy writing or childish imagery other then maybe a traditional illustration of a character associated with an object or brand

What is your response to the idea ‘all children’s illustration has bright colours’?

I think this is true in most cases, like I said in the last question kids react to visuals, interesting colourful and exciting illustrations. In this day an age there is a higher demand for new and inventive things because technology has meant kids require more visual stimulation and constant sources of fresh fun and colourful things. This is evident from today’s kids watching videos of toys, cartoons and having access to endless content that if something isn’t over the top or sometimes obnoxious, they lose interest. So yes, I think all ‘successful’ children’s illustrations have bright colours. Adults when buying these products also slip into the mind of a child thinking of what ‘their’ child would like in terms of aesthetics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After all this research and imagery I chose the ages groups preschool and established reader and did a mindmap surrounding those age will also pairing each with a word

Preschool I picked growing, that can happen quite quickly when you're young and brianstorming a few animals a giraffe seemed perfect as they are tall even from birth and the idea of a tall giraffe growing into a taller giraffe and finding its legs and walking seemed relatable.

Established Reader I chose Family, it think because at this age you really start to understand what family is and important relationships are established like friendship and family. A wolf or wolfpack I chose as this is a good example of a family, there are many dynamics and they're a team so always look out for eachother.

I did little sketches first of the general idea and compostions of each, I was going to have two giraffes eating but the younger one isnt tall enough to reach the leaves. But I later changed it to a giraffe finding its feet becase that idea was a bit easier to convey and I could focus more on expressions. As for the wolves I wanted to focus on expressions and playful actions keeping it fun and cute.

I then did bigger  minimalistic sketches in my sketchbook

 

I drew them once again this time involving pen and cleaning up some of the lines and adding more detail and developing proper expressions as well as little squiggles to suggest movement.

finally I drew them once again this time introducing colours and keeping the style sketchy rather then full clean colours.

I do really love the style of keeping kids illustrations sketchy and simple, it reminds me of older books and styles like roald dahl who had quite whispy illustrations. I like that when doing it tradtionally on paper the pencil or pen constancy is unpredictablein the sense turning the pencil or dawing a line the darkness can change depending on the pressure and patterns you create. It gives them a raw feel.

 I found some references on google of the animals I chose and took it as inspiration, the wolves I also used dogs as they have very similar behaviours and expressions. It also meant I could find a lot more poses and stances.

 Digital

To spruce up these sketches I wanted to brighten and lighten them up digtially but still sticking to that sketchy style. first black and white just to gage the character proportions and expressions also to see If I liked them in black and white which I did eith the giraffe which is why I coloured it in a but more.

I think expressions are really important in books becasue you get a sense of the atmosphere being created and how it varies or carries on thoughout a book or such. I kept the features really simple such as dots for the eyes and open mouths with tongues for playful and relaxed and also used eyebrows to show worry or anger or happiness. As for colours I just used the reference colours but didnt spend to much time perfection colour placement cause I wanted to keep it flowing.