year long project - 3rd year

 Well then... what an intesne couple of months it has been! I really didn't know if I was going to get it all done but I did... or at least would have, had the prints gone to plan. I am so unbelievably happy with everything that I have created!!! There are definetely things I would have liked to have done that I didn't have time for, like the character designs but the project was just so intense that it wasn't possible to do everything. However, given just how much I struggled with this project and year in general, I mananged to produce an immense amount of work and an outcome that I am so sooo happy with. It would have been great to get more of the interactive elements in but something had to give and they weren't cruial to the actual stroyline so it made sense that is was the interactive elements.  It's a real shame that I didn't manage to include my handmade paper a bit more as that would have just made it even more imprssive and unique but there is only so m...

  So, I wasn't able to do what I had hoped with the website so I had to create a basic google doc for now, in relation to readers sending in their poster designs and a short piece of writing about what they think they can do to help the planet. It will need some development, to include the option to receive a gift/prize in the post and a link to my website but for now it does the job; This is basically an additional element to add to my portfolio eventually.

 It was suggested a couple of times during the project to get my book reviewed by a kid, of roughly the correct age, in order to get a sense of wether or not it would be successful and how it might need editing if I was to take it further. Jordan (letter press technician) offered to help with this, as his daughter is in year 1 - the exact age I'm looking at - and suggested putting together a few questions to aid the review. The questions that I came up with are; - Did you find the book enjoyable to read? - Did it make sense, with the book and puzzles combined or did it feel a bit confused? - Were the puzzles too easy? Too hard? Did you get them right?.. - What did you think about the quizzes? Was it fun thinking about what you might do in those situations? Did it make you think at all about what sort of small changes you make in your everyday life? - Was the vocabulary too complex? Too simple? Or just right? - Did you feel overwhelmed by the content of the book? - Did the activitie...

 So... I have uploaded the final PDF of my pages, so that it is clear to see how it should be and so that I can go on to print it again after submission but it did not go well! The alignment of each double page spread is completely off and by varying amounts so as prints they are pretty much unusable for the book but could work as posters for the exhibition; As you can see, they are completely off and it's such a shame! There was no guidance from the print technicians ( I printed these with the small format printers in the open access suit) as to how to layout the PDF for correct alignment and so it was allll printed wrongggggg...  The actual prints themselves though are beautiful; (of course in the wrong order)  In terms of changes I made from the original idea, I scrapped the full tab structure because it was simply just going to take tooooo much time to get right and then the only way it was going to work would have required more paper usage and given the idea behind t...

 I printed off an A4 version of the book, on the same recycled paper that I have been using throughout the project - from the art shop - so that I could both see if it worked (it did!!!) and to try binding it. I looked on YouTube at some binding methods, to get an idea of what might work and went with both of these; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9O4kFTOEh6k&ab_channel=SeaLemon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFbgW0r7uXw&ab_channel=SeaLemon (My press isn't the best so this was quite challenging) Not the best attempt, it was pretty lose but I think was down to the thinness of the thread, making it difficult to keep the pages together. All in the wrong order AGAIN; Really nice in terms of the ability to open the page! Just awkward to do... Not quite so easy to open, but that is probably because I put quite a bit of glue on - this is probably also the reason why some of the imagery has started to bleed a bit. I think the best combo would be both of these combined - I don'...

 Okay, with just a matter of days left until the overall hand in, there is still a bit to do and I am not quite where I wanted to be according to my plan from a few weeks back. At this point, the book is being printed and I am waiting to collect it so that I can bind it etc. My binding practise attempt with the dummy book isn't perfect but it isn't bad - I think a combination of sewing and glue will work the best in terms of stability and usability.  What remains (from all units); - bind final book, cover page etc. - end pages (before binding of course) - Book instructions - questions for book trial BLOG POSTS - plastic buisness card experiment  - job research - portfolio related - finish portfolio - packaging for multiples  - photos of final work (before finishing the portfolio!) - finish website & research folder - Submission!!! -Posters? If there is time, I would like to pull something together for the character element of the book but if not, I'm pretty happy...

  I decided it would be best to create the illustrations in photoshop as it would allow me to very quickly create and change my layouts. The elements however are hand drawn and then scanned in at a high resolution to retain that hand drawn effect. However I really didnt like the look of this first attempt, it just looks so flat and boring not what I had in mind at all. In converstaion with Karenanne however she suggested that I worked with adding effects such as shadows and textures to the background to add depth and difference to the illustration. Adding the shadow effects and the background to the illustrations really makes it come alive! Suddenly it doesnt feel as dead as before. While I like this alot more I still think it needs a bit more work to look really good. Thank god I am working on this digitally as I can work on this very easily. This is what I eventually settled on, still keeping the shadows and the textures in the background however adding the all important paper te...