2. Use this template to help you evaluate your project.
You should give specific details about your work.
You should provide both written and visual examples to explain your project.
You should find areas to praise in your work. Be specific about why you think they are
good or why you are proud of them.
You should also find areas that could be improved. Look for areas that you could make
better if you went back to them. Be specific about what you would improve.
Add additional slides as you need to. Don’t be restricted by what is here.
Any blank slides should be deleted before submission.
3. Does your final product reflect your original
intentions?
When first planning this product, I looked to make each page fairly simplistic, with
similar backgrounds throughout. Below, I have given a comparison between a flat plan
and final page product. In my opinion, I could have stuck to the flat plan more by
sticking to having minimal elements. I am still confident that the final production has
matched the original intentions-the flat plan is clearly illustrated in the final product,
however I think that the style has slightly changed from flat plan to final page.
4. During planning, I stated that “To ensure that the book is as high quality as possible, a
level of consistency must be upheld. The art style must remain the same throughout,
and focus on the story must be kept.” I personally feel that I upheld consistency
through the art style in general-all characters follow a similar style, and all backgrounds
are very similar. However, I slightly deviated from my original planning of complete
consistency by giving background characters such as sheep slight strokes around their
edges. Despite this, I feel that I have stuck to my plan to keep all elements consistent,
as shown below by a comparison of two different pages, in which the art style is clearly
carried across.
5. When making a proposal, I prepared a series of
specifications that the book would follow. I
matched almost all of the specifications, making
the pages the right size and fitting all of the story
into the page limit. However, I did change the
amount of pages that I actually used-I originally
planned to tell the story in eight pages, but after
evaluating my plans I had to change that to ten
pages. This was simply a planning error, and
aside from this I have stuck to the original plans
that I have made.
6. How well have you constructed your images?
I am very pleased with the overall visual style of the book. I aimed to make the
illustrative style fairly minimalist, and I feel that I have achieved this through
the characters. The lack of facial features such as noses and eyebrows makes
the characters look simple yet still recognisable. If I were to redesign the
characters, I would maybe add shading to the bodies and faces of characters,
to make the characters stand out more from the page. I have given an
example of one of my characters below, with the style displayed within the
character being carried throughout.
7. In terms of the background, I am fairly pleased with the way it has
turned out. The simple style of two hills is carried throughout, and
provides a good backdrop to most of the scenes that happen
throughout the book. However, I feel that maybe the quality could
be improved, perhaps by making the shapes more subtle, maybe by
changing the colours or the sharpness of the shapes. I have given an
example of my background below, and the issue in regard to lack of
subtlety can be seen, not as a major issue but maybe as something
to be considered.
8. I used inspiration from preparation section of the project
throughout the book. For example, after using the “Cutout”
filter during preparation stage, I used it within production to
add texture to the trees and clouds. I have shown this below,
by comparing an image I made in preparation with a tree
within the book.
9. One of the things that I am most pleased about with the
construction of the book is the way in which the characters are
put together. For example, the way that I have used a slight
gradient on the arms to add more depth to the characters adds
another layer to the pages, and gives all of the main characters
more definition. I used two similar skin tones within the
gradient, which I have shown below as being very effective.
10. How well have you used text to anchor your
images?
If I were to improve the way in which the text and images work
together, I would improve the layout of the text. In a couple of pages, I
have had to simply place chunks of text over the page, occasionally
covering parts of the images. This is due to having quite a lot of text to
fit onto each page. This issue can be seen below, where there is a large
section of text with very little formatting.
11. One thing that I think works in terms of the way that
the text is laid out is the drop shadows I have placed
on the text. As the text is all bright white and the drop
shadow is black, the text stands out much more on
the page than if there was no shadow. The drop
shadow is also fairly subtle, and ensures that all text
can be read, no matter the background colour. I have
shown the drop shadow on the text below.
12. I think that the thing that works the most about the
text is the paths that some of the text follows. On
some of the hills within the background, I made the
text follow the line that the hill takes. In my opinion,
this adds another element to the story, and makes the
design more interesting. I have given an example of
these paths below.
13. Is your product suitable for your audience?
In my proposal, I stated my target audience as “6-9 year olds of both
genders[…]classes ABC1 […]mostly be aimed at children from areas with
surrounding countryside[…]suitable for children of any reading ability.” In my
opinion, my final product has matched this. The nature of the content within
the book I feel matches the age range-there is no inappropriate imagery, and
all language is simplistic and appropriate. In terms of class, there are enough
references to technology for the book to match the class outlines that I have
given-the main character is seen to use phones, cameras and laptops, giving
good references to relatable technology used by ABC1 classes. I used a lot of
themes of countryside throughout the book, through the backgrounds, most
notably on page 9, where a field with hay bales is the main feature of the page.
This makes it relatable to the geodemographic I have identified, as children
within the countryside can relate to it.
Finally, I made sure that the text and images were easily balanced, so that
children of any reading ability can enjoy the book. I ensured that the images
could tell the stories just as well as the text, so that even children who cannot
read very well at all can understand the story.
14. An appropriate audience profile for the book would be a 7
year old boy, in the B class, living in Yorkshire, who is also
good at reading. This is because the book matches his
interests most appropriately-he is old enough to have a
good grasp of the story, but not too old to find the story
childish. As well as this, as he is a boy and the protagonist
within the story is a boy, he is more likely to enjoy it a
large amount. His location of Yorkshire means that he will
relate to the story more, as he lives in a similar setting to
that of the book. This audience profile matches the book
very well, and I think the book would make the most sales
from this kind of audience. All of the elements of the
audience profile match suitable sections of the book, and
can be taken well contextually by the profiled person.
15. What do you like/dislike about the techniques
you have used?
One of the production techniques I like the most about my book was the
shape drawing that I did. I used the shape tool for nearly all of the character
and background production, mostly using the rectangle or rounded rectangle
tool. This tool was incredibly effective for achieving the simplistic art style, and
the shapes all had very sharp, clear edges, making the characters stand out. As
well as this, I used the gradient tool often with the shape tool, to give the
impression of changes in skin tones and shadows. One of the decisions I
decided against when using the shape tool was adding a stroke to the
characters, which I felt made the characters look much too placed into the
background.
16. If I were to change the tools that I used for
production at all, I would possibly adjust the
filter that I used for the things such as the clouds
and trees. I would make the effect more subtle,
to ensure that the cutout would be more a part
of the style, as at the moment the cutouts feel
slightly out of place within the pages. If the style
of the rest of the book was less of a cartoon
style, I think that the cutout filter would work a
lot better. This is my least favourite aspect of the
art style, as in some pages the tree looks very
out of place.
17. One of the techniques that I used a lot
throughout was the character tool, which allows
you to format the text a lot more than the basic
text tool. It means that you can change the
leading and spacing of the text easier. I liked the
technique of using the character menu rather
than just the text, as it meant I could fit the text
within any space, and make it as easy to read as
possible. This, used in conjunction with the filter
overlay of a drop shadow, makes the text very
easy to read for anybody.
18. What do you like/dislike about how your final
product looks?
I think that my final product looks exactly the way
that I would like to. I think that all of the elements
work together to match the style I was originally
looking for, in a simplistic, easy to follow way. I spent
a lot of time deciding on how the characters would
actually look, and I feel that this time has paid off as
the characters look both original and also easy to find
familiarity with. During planning, I clearly outlined
features of the book that I feel have carried through
to the final product.
19. I dislike certain features of the visual style of my final
product. For example, I feel that the colour pallet that I
used could be more appropriate to the scenery and themes
of the book- the greens could perhaps be more vibrant,
there could maybe be more plush vegetation to further
enforce the location of the countryside. Also, in terms of
the colours found within the characters, the clothing could
maybe be more different colours, as all of the characters
clothing is fairly similar. Aside from this, there are only
minor issues with the colours of the animals, such as the
fact that the non-natural colour of purple is used within the
sheep (simply to make the sheep more of a cartoon style)
and the fact that the wolf is a very dark shade of grey
compared to the rest of the book.
20. Why did you include the content you used?
When making my final piece, I took a lot of
consideration into the elements that I included. After
making the initial characters, I found a set of suitable
base images to draw other elements over, that
matched the artistic style of the original characters I
created. I included these additional characters, such as
a sheep, to add more depth and layers to the pages
that I created. If I were to improve the way in which I
made these characters, I would attempt to make them
myself, rather than using stock photos as base images. I
think that using these images allows the pages to have
a lot more depth, and adds a lot to the book.
21. When making the book, I ensured that I used a
suitable font. I made sure that the font was easy
to read for children, but that it also matched the
style of the rest of the book. I downloaded a font
that was both fairly classic and medieval, but
also not difficult to read, so that children could
still read it. I also made sure that the font was
the right colour with a drop shadow, so that it
was even easier to read, as the colours that I had
chosen for elements within the book may have
made certain colours of text hard to read.
22. One of the less noticeable effects that I have used
throughout the book is the cutout filter on some of
the elements within the book. On things such as the
trees and clouds, I have used the cutout filter from the
filter menu. I used this tool to make the book more
textured, and to add another element to the book.
This is my least favorite effect within the book, as in
my opinion it looks quite out of place. However,
without this texture, I think that the book would look
too flat and there would be very little detail on pages.
I made sure that this filter effect was consistent
throughout the book, by including either a tree with
the filter applied, or having a cloud with the filter on in
the background.
23. I used a fairly bright colour scheme, to make
children more interested in reading the book.
The bright colours also reflect the countryside,
which is also reflected by the several tones of
green that I have used throughout the story.
These colours are offset by the appearance of
the wolf, who is very dark-the colours display the
danger of the wolf. I put a lot of thought into the
colours that I used, and the way that the
children reading would react.
24. What signs, symbols or codes have your used in
your work?
As I have said before, the colours that I have used
throughout the book add additional meaning to the
book. The main character is dressed in blue for the
entire story, which is commonly related to boys-which
the main character is. As well as this, many of the
villagers are dressed in clothes with connotations of
anger and danger, with colours such as red appearing
often. Overall, I have paid close attention to what the
colours within the book symbolise.
25. The style of the book also has symbolism. The
simplistic style reflects the life of the boy-very
simplistic, with little action within the normal
pages (day to day life). All characters look fairly
similar, and all show common interests. This
reflects the stereotypes of country life, where
“everybody is the same and everybody likes the
same thing”. This style is carried through
everything-all the trees look the same, the
background is nearly always the same and the
flower patterns on the floor are always very
similar.
26. The one aspect of symbolism within the book that I
would like to pay more attention to is the location. I
feel that by making the background fairly simplistic,
with little detail, it did not give a large amount of
information about the location-the scenery
detonates countryside, but has no further
connotations. If I were to pay more attention to the
scenery, I could have given much more information
in terms of the place where the story was set, which
perhaps would not benefit the children reading, but
would help parents further explain the story.
27. Again, to reflect on the stereotypes of simplistic
country life, I made the characters within my final
product very simplistic. By making the characters out
of a few basic shapes, I ensured that not only were
the characters easy to follow, but that they were also
easy to make consistent, with all characters giving
connotations of simplicity. The over-exaggeration of
the characters facial expressions and movement
provide underlaying tones of the severity of the lies
that Peter tells, and is a good way of enforcing the
morals of the story.
28. The general tone throughout the book is fairly positive, which I
feel may not be the best choice for this story. The story is
meant to have fairly negative connotations to enforce good
morals onto young children, however in my opinion I have
made the tone too bright. If I were to remake the book, I
would ensure that the severity of Peters lies was put across,
and that children understood the importance of telling the
truth. I think that the tone is this bright because of the colours
that I have chosen, and the way that I have not shown a very
severe punishment. As well as this, the language that I have
used presents Peter in a fairly positive light, and never really
shows the negative consequences of Peter lying.
29. What representations can be found in your
work?
In my book, I have represented genders and
cultures in different ways. As one example, I
have represented teenage boys as troublesome
and time wasting-this is to set a bad example to
young children, and reinforcing the moral that
the book gives. This is a common representation
of teenagers within fairy tales, as teenagers are
used to show bad or questionable morals, to put
off children from doing bad things when they
grow up.
30. The villagers in the book are a representation of
small village life. They do everything together,
and all look quite similar. All of the villagers are
men, giving a representation of farm life and the
people deemed responsible in these small
villages. A large male authority may be a
misrepresentation, and lead children to only see
men as authority figures, so I may have to
change the characters so that there are some
female authority figures.
31. I non-intentionally did not include a mixture of races
and religion. However, as the story is set in the
English countryside, this lack of racial diversity may
be a good representation, as the countryside is not
always very diverse. There is one large social group
of farmers throughout the book, which is a good
representation of the setting that it is in. My book
does contain a large range of ages, with the main
character being teenage, some of the villagers being
mid-late 20s, and the mayor being middle aged. If I
were to improve the book, I would try to make the
character base more diverse, by possibly including
different races or social groups.
32. What style have you employed in your products?
My work follows a simplistic visual style, leaning towards a cartooned style of drawing.
I used simplistic shapes and block colours to make elements of my book, to give it the
desired simplistic look. I chose this style to make sure that information was clearly
presented for younger children, making the book easier to follow. The style makes the
events occurring easily represented visually, but is not so simplistic that it looks as if
the production was cheap and rushed. I am very pleased with the style of the drawings,
as often illustrations lean towards the more classic style of drawing, as seen below. The
image I have shown is one of the classic drawings from the boy who cried wolf, which
style is often mirrored throughout more recent renditions. I decided to stray away
from this classic style, to follow the theme of modernising the book.
33. Despite the classic story, there are many existing products
for the story that have modern illustrations. I have shown
below products that have used these modern illustrations,
and it is clear how effective they are. I took some
inspiration from these, as they all have a good, simple
cartoon style. However, I changed the style slightly, by
avoiding using large amounts of shading, to keep the style
as simplistic as possible. If I were to change the style
again, I would attempt to add some shadowing, which can
also be seen in the examples of illustrations I have given
below.
34. What were the strengths and weaknesses of the
pre-production and planning
During the planning stage, I spent a lot of time
looking at how I could modernise the story, by
researching existing modernisations of the story.
This provided very useful, as it showed me that the
story I was planning to make was actually very
unique. The planning of my book was very specific,
and helped me to work out what to make at what
points-as I had a detailed schedule of what
characters to make when, I could put the pages
together at any point, as I made sure I already had
the background ready.
35. In my opinion, I managed my time very well. For
example, In my penultimate session, I made sure
that my final page background was set up properly
before making the characters for page ten. This
meant that in the final session, I did not have to
rush anything, as I followed the planning that I had
set out fully. One area of time management that I
could have improved was at the beginning of the
production schedule, in which I found that I did not
need to make a large amount of character models
for different pages. This meant that in some
sessions I finished my work for the session
incredibly quickly.
36. Historical and cultural context
As one of Aesop’s fables, The Boy Who Cried Wolf
has a long history. It would have originally been
simply written, with no illustrations, before having
very artistic, detailed pictures set next to it. In a
sense, I have challenged this history, not only by
giving the boy a series of technological advances,
but by changing the drawing style to a basic,
cartoon one. Similar products have existed
however-a large amount of modern adaptations
are given a cartooned style, to make it easier for
children to read.
37. There are very few modern adaptations of The Boy
Who Cried Wolf-people who have adapted the story
have often changed it to mean something else. This
is where I feel that I am set apart from the rest of
the audience, as I cannot find examples of a modern
rendition that also sticks to the original story. In my
opinion, this makes the story unique, and stand out
to parents. However, as I have said before, there are
a lot of similar products in terms of layout and
artistic style. People often use the boy who cried
wolf as a starting point for a children’s book, as it
allows a lot of different aspects and themes to be
visualised.
38. Peer Feedback
• Summarise peer feedback and discuss
– Responses you agree with
– Responses you disagree with
