OUGD406 - Studio Brief 04 - Ideas Development

Based on primary research from the analysis of existing interactive children's books, it was decided to experiment with the textured idea present in The Very Hungry Caterpillar book to see how this would potentially work with our own illustrations. It was felt that this worked well to convey the 'childish' illustrative style, whilst giving a realistic texture to this particular illustration in terms of the tin foil packaging. Since this brief is based on reflective practice, it was thought that this also reflected upon certain methods learnt throughout the first year of this course in terms of experimentation with different materials and methods, with this texture in particular likened to that produced through screen-print. These textures could therefore be developed by hand through such processes to be used within our final designs.

Through the analysis of survey answers, a list of potential illustrations was constructed which combined some of the weird and interesting items bought during freshers week and the embarrassing shopping stories that happened during this period of starting university. In order to accompany such illustrations, quirky and humorous captions were also brainstormed during this process. Although it had been decided on keeping the style of the guide similar to that of an interactive children's book, we did not want this to be communicated as patronising to potential new students who receive a copy. Therefore to overcome this problem, it was decided that the content should be more 'adult' which not only linked better to our potential audience but also linked with some of the answers received through the survey, which would make it more relatable and less patronising, and enable us to offer actual advice to new students. For instance, one question asked the most embarrassing item bought - many answers to this question included items such as, condoms, lube and alcohol - which we could offer advice on when buying.