Product Description / Strategic Vector

Introduction:

My project focuses on Character Design with emphasis on Illustration. End product of this project is a Picture Book aimed at 6+year olds, falling under the ‘Easy Readers’ category of Picture Books.

This project is looked at from three viewpoints

• Styles / Approaches
• Characteristics / Physical & Personality Traits
• Media Scope / Demand

Styles / Approaches: Character Designers follow a number of styles or approaches in developing the characters. There are characters that look starkly realistic, cartoonish or even super deformed / cute. Here Styles / Approaches also denote the different illustrating styles (Disney style of illustration, Manga / Anime style of illustration, Retro style of illustration etc).

Characteristics / Physical & Personality Traits: What make a character unique are the physical and personality traits the character has. Focusing on the customization of physical and personality traits form an integral component of this project as any other project involving character design.

Media Scope / Demand: Illustrated and animated characters are used in a wide range of media including print, interactive and 3D. Entertainment / Education / Business / Advertising sectors are some main sectors where the character designers are in huge demand. 

Summary: Project Description (Title: An Eastern Festival)

This is a simple introduction to the festival of Onam.

This project comprises of creating a Picture Book for children aged 6+, under the ‘Easy Readers’ category of Picture Books. The story for this project is based around the harvest festival called Onam, celebrated in Kerala, an Indian state, located south most on its west coast. Onam is the largest festival in Kerala and falls around between August / September. Like many other Indian festivals, Onam too has a legend associated with it. In this project called ‘ An Eastern Festival’, the legend behind this festival is presented as a sub story within the main story. The main story has a title character, who is a 6 year old girl, along with other characters.

Storyline in Brief:

A 6 year old child visits her grandparents along with her family on the occasion of the festival, Onam. As a six year old now she is more curious to know everything about this harvest festival. Seeing her interest her grandma decided to tell her the legend behind this festival and make her enjoy this festive time to the fullest. Her parents and sibling also join their hands in this venture and the child has a wonderful Onam, taking part and witnessing the various aspects such as cultural activities, rituals, games etc that this grand festival brings along.

Through this project I am trying to develop an illustration style of my own. Even though the legend behind the festival Onam has been retold several times via various media, through both printed and web formats, the way it is narrated and illustrated will make this concept creative and distinctive from the rest. Story is narrated in simple text. Story is expressed mainly describing the character’s actions and also through dialogues. The illustration style that will be used in this picture book is neither very abstract nor starkly realistic. It will be expressed more as a childlike narrative with characters having more of a comical appearance. Predominant colour scheme used will be matching to the festive theme and the harmonious mood that the picture book portrays. There will be slight variations in this regard, depending on the context. The picture book will be presented in printed format. It is going to be a hardcover book, shaped square, with dimensions 8.5 * 8.5 inches. It will have a minimum of 32 pages with the story narrated in 1500-2000 words. It is expected to be published with a sales target of 3000-5000 copies.

Aims & Objectives

Aims:

• Specialize in character design with emphasis on illustration
• Raise awareness of other traditions and festival through picture book
• Develop new and innovative characters
• Develop own illustrative style
• Reinvent self as a character designer.

 Objectives:

• Research & collection of relevant reference materials.
• Developing character Illustrations
• Developing storyboarding
• Refining sketches to produce final illustrations
• Compiling and producing the Illustrations as a printed book

Market Analysis:

Target Market : Children’s Book Publishers

Around 10,000 new children’s titles are published in the UK every year. Mostly the children’s publishers rely on commissioned writers and illustrators, but there is a market for newcomers into this field, who can showcase exceptional talent. In the UK children’s book publishing industry includes many renowned companies. The editors are on the lookout for original, lively and innovative ideas.

In 2009, the UK market for children’s books was worth an estimated £776.1m at manufacturers selling price (msp). This is an increase of 4.1 % from previous year and an 18.6 % rise since 2005. Children’s books, including picture books account for more than a fifth of the total UK book market. The number of bookshops in a sample of more than 700 British town centres showed slight increase between June 2009 and June 2010. Various charity organisations and initiatives of the Government have raised the profile of children’s reading across the board.

I believe that my project would be unique and innovative catering to the needs of the current market. One aim of the project is to promote the concept of intercultural understanding through picture book. It is a way to introduce an ethnic culture. It will give its reader a chance to explore a different culture and would instil a respect for diversity.

Target Company: Frances Lincoln Publishers

The chosen company is Frances Lincoln Publishers, based in London. This company was founded by Frances Lincoln in 1977. The company published its first book two years later. Have been creating high quality illustrated books ever since. The company started producing illustrated books for children in 1983. It has won many awards for both fiction and non-fiction children’s books. Their publishing partners include Amnesty International, Oxfam, The Royal Horticultural Society, Victoria and Albert Museum etc. Also they represent a variety of publishers from around the world. The company offers sales support to Allen & Unwin Children’s Books, Barn Owl Books, Boxer Books, Campfire, Little Bookroom, Mogzilla, the Natural History Museum, NYRB Classics, The New York Review Children's Collection, NYRB Collections, Tara Books, Timber Press and White's Books in the UK. The company annual turnover is around £6 million and it employs about 40 people.

In 2010, they re-launched the children’s book fiction list. It includes books for children and teens aged 6-14 and comprises of around 20 titles a year. Their recently published children’s books include – Aesop’s Fables, Batty, Bumblebee, Measuring Angels, New Shoes for Helen, Wait and See etc to name a few.

One of their missions is to publish children’s titles that celebrate cultural diversity in the widest possible sense. The company cares about reflecting the richness and diversity of the world through their books. ‘Lighting a Lamp: A Divali Story’ is a children’s book on the Indian festival of Divali, which was published by Frances Lincoln Children’s Books.

Conclusion:

This company has been chosen as the publisher is enthusiastic about promoting diversity in children’s fiction. I believe that having a common interest would be beneficial for my project and also would prove equally desirable for the company.

Elevator Pitch

Around 10,000 new children’s titles are published in the UK every year. In 2009, the UK market for children’s books was worth an estimated £776.1m at manufacturers selling price (msp). This is an increase of 4.1 % from previous year and an 18.6 % rise since 2005. Children’s books, including picture books account for more than a fifth of the total UK book market.

The scenario depicted here is that I get to meet with the Editor of a famous children's book publishing company. As the time span for an elevator pitch is very short, I am trying here to get my point across in as few words as possible.

Hello there, are you the Editor of Frances Lincoln Children’s Books ?

I am currently working around a brilliant idea which I would like to get published as a picture book for children under the ‘easy readers’ category.

There aren’t a lot many books available for the young readers, introducing them to the diverse cultures at a young age, giving them a chance to explore a different culture. My project focuses on introducing the festival of Onam, celebrated in the Indian state of Kerala.

I understand that your company is enthusiastic about promoting diversity in children’s fiction. If I have the backing of your publishing company, which is highly experienced and interested in diverse cultural projects, I see a great potential for my project with a minimum sales target of  3000-5000 copies. I am sure that this agreement would bring you considerable profits as well. 

Would you be interested in a follow up meeting? 

Thank you!!

Potential Customer List

Attempting to come up with a potential customer list! The customer list is made mainly focusing on the aspect that, services will be provided as a character designer. The possibility of getting the end product of this project (picture book in printed format) marketable is also considered while making this list. The list mainly includes children's book publishers, 2D/3D character design / animation studios, gaming companies etc.

Potential Customer List

Project Plan

I have drawn up a Project Plan for the Design Research Proposal. It can be accessed via the link given below.

Project Plan

PowerPoint Presentations

This post contains the PowerPoint presentations that were made during the last three months as part of developing the design research proposal.

Influences on Graphic Design - Focusing on History of Graphic Design

Influences on Graphic Design - Focusing on Art Styles / Art Movements / Design Philosophies of the 20th century

Character Design - Three Ways of Looking

Character Design - Design Brief - Final Presentation

Design Brief

Character Design

Design Brief:

What is it?

Reinterpreting the characters and the story of the ‘Fairy Tale- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’, by developing illustrations of the characters and the story in Manga comic style. The finished product will be a collection of digital illustrations compiled and produced as a book. Also a 3D CG model of the Snow White will be made.

Backgrounds:

Aim of the project is to analyze, study and develop characters based on a well defined style. The project is looked at from three viewpoints.

• Styles/Approaches
• Characteristics/Physical and Personality Traits
• Media Scope/Demand

The story base for this project is the famous ‘Fairy Tale- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’. This story has been chosen due to its vivid characters or the diverse personalities of its characters and its popularity. The illustrations will be developed in Manga comic style. This style has been chosen as it is a popular and widely accepted style. The challenge would be in successfully developing these popular western style characters and the story in an entirely different eastern style. The 3D model of the ‘Snow White’ could potentially be used as a game character or used in any other suitable animation clip. This project has been chosen to reinvent self as a Character Designer.

Objectives:

The characters, story and the manga drawing style will be closely examined. After close study and examination, rough sketches of the characters and the story will be made using traditional pencil and paper method. These sketches will be further refined and storyboarding of the entire story will be done. Characters will be portrayed in different ways capturing their gestures and poses. Characters will be portrayed within their environment, thereby picturing the surroundings in detail. The finished product will be a collection of digital illustrations compiled and produced as a book. These illustrations may be accompanied by textual content narrating each scene. As the second phase of the project a 3D CG model of the ‘Snow White’ will be made.

Manga

Manga consists of comics and print cartoons. Manga conforms to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th century. In their modern form, Manga date from shortly after world war II. The Manga industry in Japan is of a massive scale. There are a great number of magazines in Japan devoted exclusively to Manga. The three largest publishing houses producing Manga are Kodansha, Shogakkan and Shueisha. It is estimated that there are around 3000 professional Manga artists in Japan.

Types of Manga

There are different types of Manga. Doujinshi, Gekiga, Hentai, Josei, Seinen, Shojo, Shonen, Kodomo etc.

Doujinshi
Gekiga
Shojo Manga
Shonen Manga

Many Manga have been made into Anime series. Anime is commonly defined as animation originating in Japan. Anime, like Manga, has a large audience in Japan and recognition throughout the world.

It is worthwhile here mentioning about Studio Ghibli. It is a Japanese animation film studio. Studio Ghibli has created several award winning anime features.  Among its productions, 'Spirited Away', has won an Oscar for Best Animated Feature in 2002 and it remains the only film made outside the English-speaking world to have done so.

Below is a trailer of Studio Ghibli films ranging from 1984 to 2005 (nausicaa to howls), put together by a fansite, using music from doyle and zimmer. I think this is an excellent piece of collections.

Came across the below Disney's trailer for the Studio Ghibli film 'Spirited Away' which won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature in 2002. The plot of Spirited Away orbits around a sullen ten-year-old girl who is in the process of moving to a new neighborhood with her family, leaving her old friends and school behind, and chronicles of her adventures in a world of spirits and monsters. This movie was directed by Hayao Miyazaki who is a a Japanese Manga artist and prominent film director and animator of many popular anime feature films.