Commercial Illustration Practice Reflections and SWOT Analysis

Looking back at all the projects I've had this year, this has been one of my favourites. Beginning the project, the idea of having three books to choose from was slightly overwhelming as two of them I didn't know much about and therefore had to do a lot of research in the initial stages to make sure I had explored each book and its themes. Although each interested me in different ways, I decided on Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian. Children's book illustration has always interested me therefore I wanted to take the opportunity to explore the industry, to better understand the process and requirements needed for producing a book design. That said, I produced an action plan early in the project outlining weekly tasks and research I wanted to complete and the materials I'd needed. This allowed me to manage my time efficiently and broke the tasks down into more manageable sections. Its often daunting beginning a project, especially with this being the last one I wanted to make sure it showcased things that I've learnt over the year, even if my project and sketchbook wouldn't be marked in the conventional way I thought it was important to stay motivated working from home. 

Over the past 8 or so weeks, I've enjoyed raiding my expansive collection of children's books, taking influence from some of my favourite illustrators and writers, Jon Klassen and Oliver Jeffers to name a few. This also provided a good insight into how they approached designing a book marketed for children, seeing how the designs are catered to the target audience but still appeal to the older audience who read along with them. Although Goodnight Mister Tom is in the Penguin Competition's Children's category, I think this book appeals to all demographics and has been enjoyed by readers of all ages for generations. 

One of my main aims was to bring the book back into focus with a more well-rounded cover design that would appeal to a new generation of readers but also capture the attention of existing lovers of the story. This was a target I had from the beginning. I wanted to make sure to incorporate all the earlier research and response work from the range of artists and designers I looked at so all avenues were explored before completing the final piece. 

Final Composition

Above is the finished piece, with the Puffin assets, title and authors name. Unlike other projects, generating concepts and alternate compositions took a long time to get right, given that the illustration was being applied to a book sleeve and I wanted the design to wrap around the front and back covers. As seen through my sketchbook and other blog posts, I've been doing a lot of sepia ink paintings recently and intended on using this for the final but changed my mind after printing a few mock-ups out and realising the print quality and ink luminosity wasn't great with my home printer and scanner. Had I been able to access facilities and large-scale printers at college it might've been different but I was a lot more confident in producing a crisper and cleaner outcome digitally. This also made the process more seamless and manageable as I could use the linework as a guide and focus on each element separately using a digitally generated sepia colour scheme, so when the base layer was complete I could go back and add details, change the hue to a lighter or darker one and play around with sizing to make sure it was proportionally accurate. 

Another key feature I wanted to include was adding contextual elements linking to WW2 and Evacuation. Goodnight Mister Tom was written in 1981 but set amid WW2. Although the book focuses primarily on Will and his new life in the countryside, Magorian explores elements of the devastation of war in London and the emotional destruction it caused. With technology being less advanced in the 1940s, I experimented with traditional printmaking methods like etching as I wanted the cover to have some references to the remembrance of Wartime, something I felt the older readers would appreciate. Moreover, I looked at using typewriter fonts and the addition of the red poppies in the foreground really brought this piece to life as it symbolized war and themes explored in the book, with Will visiting London and experiencing the heartbreak it caused first-hand.  

In addition to the book cover, I want to further explore aspects of children's books after looking through my collection and remembering how much used to love writing my name in the front of a book, that is if my younger sister didn't get there first and vandalise them. I was influenced by the likes of Anna Bond and Tiger books to produce a series of pages to go on the flyleaf using illustrations I'd make with the corresponding sepia colour scheme. This worked well and I was pleased with the irregular placement of illustrations in a grid-like way, showing each of equal importance picking out aspects of Will's life. Below are some of the designs. 

Weirdly, I was quite apprehensive to finish this project and with the extended time frame, took my time to make sure all research and development were well documented in my sketchbook before submitting it. Especially being at home for the duration of this project, it was at times hard to find motivation but I knew I wanted to finish the year on a positive and get a good grade to reflect all the work I've put in. I'm happy with how this project has gone and feel the outcome summarises a lot of the work I've done as well as covering many aspects outlined in the brief. I've learnt that this is the field of illustration that interests me most and I'd like to continue to explore this avenue, focusing my illustrations at a younger audience and continuing to pursue my hopes of someday creating children's books. 

SWOT Analysis

Strengths-

• Good time management, following an 8 week time plan and using the extended timeline to my advantage, using the extra time to tie up loose ends and make sure the colourisation and concept suited the brief well, incorporating aspects of designs and research I'd done throughout the project. 
• Getting more familiar with new colour schemes and materials. I hadn't worked with sepia ink before so enjoyed learning this new skill. Researching artists like Anna Bond and responding in a  abstract and colourful way reflecting her style. 
• Went a step further to create 'This Belongs To' pages to go with the cover, using illustrations inspired by Goodnight Mister Tom.

Weaknesses-

• Could have explored more materials and produced a more traditionally composed outcome linking to the book's context. 
• I had more plans to utilise book pages to draw on and produce more collage work, possibly to conglomerate all the places mentioned to make a map of Little Weirwold. This would've gave a good insight into the situation of Mister Toms house and graveyard in relation to the main village. 

Opportunities-

• Could market the design to publishers or bookstores. Smaller scale, I've put the designs on my illustration Instagram account @Amelias.studio to reach a bigger audience, showing the design process and finals. 
• Exploring more elements like bookmarks and the 'This Book Belongs to...' page found in a selection of children's books. Adding personalised elements making the reader more engaged with the book. 

Threats-

•  Possibility of it being marketed is slim as the brief missed the competition deadline but it was good practice and work to be added to my portfolio to show illustration work applied commercially. I'll look out for next years competition!
• Lack of contact with tutors, this project more than ever tested productivity and self-direction, showing what a freelance design brief would be like, having to make all the decisions independently. I think I tackled this well after previously being on a Level 3 Art and Design course, I'm good at working solo and taking on all these decisions- this definitely benefitted me in knowing what to include!