1. Produce 1x sample double page spread to help introduce children (age 5X7) to just one from the various simple recipes from CBeebies ‘I Can Cook’.
I created this mock-up for a children’s book recipe ‘Cheese and
Tomato Melts’ I wanted to keep it simple because I didn’t want it to bore the children
with all the reading so I had made the first page to be fun and colorful and
the instructions page to just be very simple so that the adults can follow it.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/i-can-cook/makes/i-can-cook-cheeseandtomatomelts/
http://static.bbc.co.uk/images/s/width/live//p0/0m/5y/p00m5y2j.jpg/496
http://insightdesigns.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/polaroid_1_insight_designs3-e1339333496674.png
Tuesday, 4 March 2014
Monday, 24 February 2014
Task 3 - Research
Mock-Up Task
The front cover has been illustrated very well, by incorporating
food with the typography and also photographs have been used as well. The bright colours would be appealing to the children
and the detailed illustrations show well of the food. Boys would be very open to
this book as it is blue and there is a picture of men who are doing the
cooking.
The font cover of this book is very cute and simple,
with an illustrative typography and gingerbread men alongside photographs of
actually food and cutlery. This book would appeal more to girls I believe with
the feminine touch to the cover.
1. Produce 1x sample
double page spread to help introduce children (age 5X7) to just one from the various
simple recipes from CBeebies ‘I Can Cook’.
• Research (Existing Children’s Cook Books)
‘Do Try This at Home: Cook It!’ [1]
Aimed at: 5 – 8 year olds
The front cover has been illustrated very well, by incorporating
food with the typography and also photographs have been used as well. The bright colours would be appealing to the children
and the detailed illustrations show well of the food. Boys would be very open to
this book as it is blue and there is a picture of men who are doing the
cooking.
“Cooking is science, and this book is packed with
exciting recipes for scientists of all ages! Make cupcakes and find out why
beating the eggs and using baking powder makes them rise. Cook a Bolognese
sauce and discover why onions make you cry and what happens to the molecules in
the meat when you cook it. Reveal the insulating power of meringue when you
make a baked Alaska -- the ovens hot but the ice cream stays frozen. You'll
also find out about the amazing scientific powers of ingredients such as
gelatine, yeast and eggs. Plus there are several food-related science
experiments inside. And if that isn't enough this book will show you some
really healthy ways of preparing the food too! Yum!”
‘Cook it Step by Step’ [2]
Aimed at: 5 – 8 year olds
The font cover of this book is very cute and simple,
with an illustrative typography and gingerbread men alongside photographs of
actually food and cutlery. This book would appeal more to girls I believe with
the feminine touch to the cover.
“Master the cookery basics...then move on to the fun stuff.
"Cook It" is the ultimate introduction to cookery for kids. It does
what every cookbook should do - take the simple stuff, learn it, then move on
to conquer the kitchen. Basic techniques are covered first and step-by-step
guidelines and colour photographs keep everything clear and simple. When your
child feels ready they can move on to dishes which put their new knowledge to
the test. They can master how to cook an egg, then use it in pancakes and
omelettes; learn how to make dough then open their own mini bakery full of
homemade breads and pizzas. There are 100 easy and delicious dishes to make,
bake and create in here, so they'll never run out of inspiration. Split into
five sections - breakfast, light bites, main meals, and sweets and preparing
for events. With a meal and party planner included children can share their new
skills with family and friends, get ready to be impressed.”
Aimed at: 5 – 8 year olds
This font cover also features photography of foods and illustrations of a
bowl with mixture in it; the cover is simple and straight forward. Again I think
that this book would appeal more to girls as the cover is very girly with the
flowers and cupcakes.
“This book presents 30 tasty and simple treats to make at home. On
each page there is a mouth-watering photograph of the finished dish and clear,
step-by-step picture instructions for how to make it. The recipes include
chocolate brownies, mini meringues, raspberry ice-cream and ginger star
biscuits. It is spiral bound to allow easy use and transportation, and means no
card will ever get lost!”
Saturday, 15 February 2014
Task 2
Research Task
The art-style
I think would be appropriate for 9 – 11 year old readers should use photography
for the or very detailed hand drawn images, this is because in information
books they tend be many facts and photography is the best way to show these
facts, but on the other hand, as it is still aimed at young children drawn
image could work very well alongside information. For example this book by Bill
Bryson, called ‘A Really Short History of Nearly Everything’ [1] is
a book containing information on the wonders and mysteries of time and space. The
illustrations within this book are all hand drawn and some photography work has
been used.
1.
Identify one ‘art
style’ that you feel would be appropriate for each of the following book genres/audiences:
• Information/ Reference title - aimed at 9-11 years
olds.
The art-style
I think would be appropriate for 9 – 11 year old readers should use photography
for the or very detailed hand drawn images, this is because in information
books they tend be many facts and photography is the best way to show these
facts, but on the other hand, as it is still aimed at young children drawn
image could work very well alongside information. For example this book by Bill
Bryson, called ‘A Really Short History of Nearly Everything’ [1] is
a book containing information on the wonders and mysteries of time and space. The
illustrations within this book are all hand drawn and some photography work has
been used.
• Baby/ Toddler – First Objects Book.
The art-style
I think would be appropriate for babies and toddlers should use simple but bold
and bright illustration’s in order to capture their attention. For example like
this book by David McKee called ‘Elmer and the Snake’ [2] this is a
classic character and the illustrations in this book are simple and very
colourful, again the typography is easily readable and bold. This is a perfect
example for a baby/toddler picture book.
• Picture book – aimed at 3-6 year olds.
The art-style
I think would be appropriate for 3-6 year olds should be an interactive book containing
pop-ups or even activity packs, the illustrations should be slightly detailed
and readable typography. For example this book by Pippa Goodhart, and illustrations
by Nick Sharratt, the book is called ‘Just Imagine’ [3]. This book
allows children to tell their own stories by choosing an image on each page and
putting it all together to tell a story. This is a very illustrative book which
children would enjoy to read and share with their parents.
Sunday, 9 February 2014
Task 1
Initial Research
Children's Book Illustrators
Janet McDonnell - http://www.janetmcdonnell.com/home/Welcome.html

Jackie Stafford - http://www.childrensillustrators.com/illustrator-details/jackie/id=50/
Kim Siebold - http://kimsieboldstudios.com/

Janet McDonnell
I chose to
look further at this illustrator as she has not only worked as an illustrator
but she has worked as an editor and writer for children’s books so she has
years of experience in all the areas of children’s books.
The illustrators
that I have looked at all have a similar style in their art work but with Janet’s
art style she explores the use of black and white illustrations as well as
colour illustrations, her style is still similar to many other illustrators but
her style is simple yet effective for children’s books.
Janet has illustrated
8 children’s picture books; her most recent work was for a book called ‘Adopted
and Loved Forever’ which was aimed at 4 to 8 year olds, most of the books that Janet has illustrated for are aimed at 4 to 8
year olds.
As she has always work for children’s books with the
same age range I think her work reflects the age range very well as they are
not over complicated and not to simple, her coloured illustrations are bright
and bold with a use of different natural colours, in addition to her black and
white illustrations she define the illustrations very well and they are also
very well-toned.
Overall, I think that this illustrator is very successful
in her work and her illustrations show well of her talent and also her
publications are a success with children.
Session task
Analyse websites or products (toys, books, clothing
etc) aimed at children.
http://www.mothercare.com/children%27s-books/toys_learning_books,default,sc.html?view=grid
Consider
the following:
•
Use of colour / design / typography
•
Visual Hierarchy (if appropriate)
•
Use of illustration/photography
•
what age do you think the product / site is aimed at. Explain your choice.
After
looking through a variety of websites and products that are aimed at children, I
have chosen two websites which are aimed at children via products (books) and
games (online).
The website
below is called ABC Games, features a number of online games for children to play, all the games
promote the learning of numbers and the alphabet, so these games are
educational which are beneficial to children. With the simplicity of the website and games
and the content of the games, I can see that the website is aimed towards children
3 to 6 years old; this is to enable them to build their educational skills in literacy
and numeracy so they know the basics before starting school.
-
Bright
colours
-
All the
games use friendly looking characters
-
Some of
the games have familiar characters that children will recognise
-
The designs
are simple, prefect for children
-
Easy to
read typography, not over complicated
-
Big and
bold illustrations
-
Many of
the characters in the games are simple illustrations
-
The backgrounds
in the games have some detail
The next website
I looked at was MotherCare, which sells a number of products aimed at children.
I looked at children’s books, as a side option I could have selected a certain
age range to look at; I chose to look at books aimed at 3 to 4 year olds. These
books include story books by familiar characters, activity books, numbers and alphabet
books. All these books promote imagination and education, which I believe are very
important aspects in children’s books.
-
Loads of
different bright colours
-
Friendly
characters
-
Some of
the books have familiar characters that children will recognise
-
A complete
range of different types of books
-
A range
to choose from
-
Some designs
are simple, prefect for children
-
Some designs
have a lot of detail which can promote more imagination
-
Easy to
read typography, not over complicated
-
Big and
bold illustrations
-
Many of
the characters in the books are simple illustrations
-
The backgrounds
in the books have some detail
http://www.mothercare.com/children%27s-books/toys_learning_books,default,sc.html?view=grid
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