Issues with my research

I didn't really come across huge issues I had to resolve in my research.

One thing that was a little bit of an issue was the interview with my sister. It was very informal, but I think that helped her overall with asking more questions and being more open. To keep her on track, I had her mum in the room, so she would behave - and she did.

Another issue I had was the questionnaire. It wasn't something I could just pass over the table as it had big questions about books and childhood. So, to fix this, I gave it to the parents and asked them to sleep on the answers, to get the most honest answer. This helped with the truth behind the answers themselves.

I also made a survey for more responses and a wider audience to talk to that isn't biased. As I was asking about what they'd buy for their children, I asked if they had any children. However, I made the rookie error of not asking for gender or age of the survey taker. Though it's not crucial, as I'm not looking for my target audience, it would've helped me to determine if younger people had different views on what to buy for children's (books wise), than maybe older people. This is something I entirely missed.

However, I did email my survey around, and put it on groups on Facebook (I actually put it on a book club page, that ended up to be a club event in Scotland, buy they said they'd sign it anyway), and this helped me get a wider audience than just my sister and parents.

Was my research helpful?

Long story short: yes.

The research I had helped me adjust my FMP slightly. Though I'm still going with a children's book, with morals, I not know it's not the most important thing. Artwork and illustrations speak out to kids, and sometimes even parents. This helped me realise that most of my time and work should be on the images in the book.

The research itself could've been slightly better. If I had the time, I would've loved to interview more children with a variety of ages. The child I interviewed was my sister, and this has it's peaks and lows. For instance, it seems biased that I interviewed my own family. However, I actually see this as a good thing, as I think other children wouldn't be as open and ask as many questions as she did.

I would've also liked to conduct an online survey, but I was more focused on the parent's of the child...(my parents).

The secondary research was god, and by reviewing the books myself I got to voice an opinion. I also looked at an article where the writer kinda agreed with me, but raised other points. This backed up my primary research.

FMP Research and Findings

My FMP hasn't changed since my research project - which makes all of that research valuable and helpful. In the research, I looked at children's books and morals. I did my own primary research on whether morals were important to children and parents in the books. I did this through an interview, and questionnaire.

For my primary research I needed to see what kids like, and how they reacted to it. For this, I read a story to my sister and voice recorded the interview. Because of this, I selected some books - some with obvious morals (The Red Tree), and some without (The Tiger Who Came To Tea), and some with morals but that are subtle (The Twits).

I also conducted a survey for the parents, to see how comfortable they are with the books being read to her.

Through the parent’s survey, I found that they chose books to buy their child based on the size of letters, and the pictures. They also made some predictions about the books she’d like - thinking mostly of the fun story, or the big pictures. One parent thought she’d enjoy The Red Tree the most, and they both agreed she’d like The Twits the least.

They were right. (Mostly.)

I found that the most enjoyable book for my sister was The Red Tree (with obvious morals), and the least enjoyable was The Twits (with subtle morals). However, a point made by her a lot was about the artwork of the books. The Red Tree has huge, creative drawings whereas The Twits is more rough sketching.

She liked The Tiger Who Came To Tea (with no morals), but she didn’t say much about it, and nearly forgot about it.

Week One - relfection

This week, most of my work was starting the FMP. This meant getting the basis of themes, content, concepts and ideas together. I did a couple of sketches in my sketchbook, but also on various bits of lost paper. By doing this, it helped me to decide to make the characters included more abstract rather than detailed. (No nose or expressions, etc.)

I also had to pitch my FMP idea. This went well, but a key point was made: develop the character(s) identity more. This is so children would remember the book, and it would have consistency throughout. With that, I think I'll try and add a couple more characters, but that's all for the story boarding. (Coming soon to a blogger near you.)

I have yet to make a vlog on my progress then I can iron out my research and findings and clear the way for making the actual book.

Here goes!

What can I plan better?

Planning this FMP, I know I needed a planner. (Fairly obvious.) So I put one together for all due assignments, and this keeps me on track on it all.

Areas of development I have so far are the fact that I'm doing the entire book - and I don't really illustrate. This may knock me off track, but with my colour-coded planner, I think I'll be able to do it.

Also, I was going to print the book myself at college, but after colour and quality questions about the printer I don't know how to answer to even how to ask, I think paying a professional company to do it for me is the best option.

Having a timeline on my FMP also helps, but I know I need to get the production together ASAP to get to the post-production. I did, also, get my FMP planned through a mind-map.

Having done most of my research in a project already really helps, also. So far, it's week one and I'm on track. I hope to come back next week and say the same thing.

My College Year So Far

At the start of the year, we were completing smaller tasks, like posters and ads and infographics. Some are okay, some I just want to forget I even made. These tasks were great as they meant a lot of work on Illustrator. This helped me to get familiar with the software and get used to deadlines. It was almost we were introducing the heftier projects. The poster next to this text is one of the tasks we did.

After Christmas we worked on bigger projects, and the first was an interactive book. Some struggles that came with this was learning something entirely new. I had never produced a digital and interactive book, so it was completely new. I also tried to do the bare minimum at first, mostly because writing the content had tired me out. However, after feedback, I decided to add more interactivity. I'm glad I did.
Great things about this were when I got it together and improved it, I came out with a product I really liked.


The next project was a live brief - working with a real client. This can be a little difficult, as it's very different from just creating something for college to go on my portfolio. Deadlines are also a lot more important, and you can't just say 'ah, yeah, I'm getting to that'.
However, this project almost being like a collaboration, it gives you accurate feedback and helps you to improve. It helps with time management, and, at the end, you can be like 'oh look at that leaflet, I designed that'.

We, at the same time, did a paper engineering project. This was a little lot hands on, and I didn't like it too much as I like designing digitally. It costs you card, money, and you've likely glued fingers to each other. But, this is a skill I'm glad I've developed. It's also a really creative way to tell a story.

Finally, before the FMP, we had a research project. I love writing and laying out documents - like a real nerd - so this was great. However, gathering research is time-consuming and having to sit still at a desk and type over 1500 words isn't as fun. Saying that, seeing your newly printed project in a binder, is the best thing.

I've done other projects too for other clients, and that's been great to try some live work.

Personal Branding

Today we had to think about branding ourselves.

It's not long until the end of the year, and a good idea is an online portfolio to promote ourselves. I've seen many examples of this, like J.K Rowling's website, etc.

I wanted a sleek, professional look for a website at first, but then I decided I wanted something more me. I love animation and designing children's stories, so an idea I had was having a little version of myself guiding you around my website.

It took me ages and my eyes are still a little cross-eyed from staring at the screen for so long - but I put a rough draft in Illustrator. It's of me with my old longer hair, and on each scroll she's getting frustrated with the hair, and so, in the end, she cuts it off.

Then you can see, at the end, me with short hair.

You may not able to tell, but I cut my hair, and it inspired it.

Laser Cutter

A laser cutter is an effective way of, well, cutting things out. Intricate designs that are too tricky or time-consuming for the scalpel or scissors can be effectively and accurately cut from a laser cutter. The laser reads a document with artwork and shapes on, and produces that work on card, or whatever material you want it on (within reason). This is a huge plus of a laser cutter. You save time and it's pretty accurate.

But you don't save money, as they can be pretty pricey. They can also be very fiddly, and you need to be careful what you design digitally is going to work out well on the cutter. You also need to be careful with health and safety around a laser cutter, and take safety precautions.

Unfortunately, I was away when the cutter was brought out and the class had a go at it, but I did get to see what was produced. Though it's quick and easy, I prefer the traditional old mat and scalpel, so I'll be creating my own pop-up book that way.

Accessibility and Tuning

How can I make my product accessible? 

My product is pretty simple, so it's easy to make it pretty accessible to all.

I don't have much text, just words on the front and even then it'll only be about three. It'll read something like 'change your perspective'. This will be in a font easy to read, and bold so you can see it relatively far away.

Colours are also going to be a minimum. I will use tones of blue, grey and white to distinguish layers of my tunnel book, and some yellow and orange on another side. This helps anyone who struggles with colour blindness. However, anyone who struggles to determine shades of colours, I will help (or try to) by spreading out the layers so you can see each part of the book, and the colours don't hugely matter. For instance, with the yellow for the happiness, the expression of the characters will tell you the same thing.

 How is it tuned for my audience?

My target audience is art lovers and fanatics. Maybe even people with a love of literacy and old time tales. This age range is 25 - 45 and the reason being is I want young people to admire the art, but you don't really outgrow a love of art.

The product itself is tuned for that audience as it tells a literal story, and grabs your interest. I hope people to be able to look at it for a while and see how little things (like the broken gate on one side, and the open gate on the other) and what it can mean. There are no small text or bright, fantastic colours. The focus is on the story behind the art.

Response Mechanism

What is it?

It's a way of responding to a certain company or organisation with no complications of pressure. You can get these in post or email, etc, where you can reach out to the said company with any questions or opinions. This is different to a sales technique as it takes the pressure off customers.

How will I use it?

One way I've used this in my leaflet is by including social media and TripAdvisor. TripAdvisor is a simple way for people to give feedback and comments about their experiences - where the managers or owners can also reply whether it be from a negative or positive post.

This is a great way of gathering feedback, and also answering any visitor's questions or queries before or after their arrival. It gets the museum involved digitally, and gives it a wider audience.