Keeping this blog as a record of this class and my work in it. New personal blog here: http://chronicpainchange.blogspot.com/

The Evolution of Sebatian's World (Last Reflective Essay)

I felt inspired by this book project because I have always had a slight draw towards writing something geared towards children.  I had never really had a solid idea on where to go with that, until this assignment.  When we originally did the typography project and I used the mold of my cat with a J used as his tail, I had no idea it would become what it has become. I went way above and beyond the requirements for this project and I am actually considering submitting it for publication on a large scale.

I began with just a rough idea of making the cat the main character of this book.  Over the process of putting this book together it has evolved on many levels for the final draft.  I wanted to keep it on a base level for young children and give it great color and simple text. I am actually quite proud of what it has become.  I had it done the Sunday after the brake per the original deadline.  I actually think if I had not been pressed I would have done a little more over view with it, even though I am happy with the finalized project.  I printed it out myself for the final paste up, the ink was rather costly and my stapler wouldn’t work so I ended up stitching the binding together by hand with a needle and thread.  I am happy with the final product and in the end grateful for the pressure to finish it.

My children have all seen the final product as have many friends of mine.  I am getting extremely positive feedback and even emotional reactions from my eight year old daughter.  What am I going to do with this book? Well I suppose I could just set it aside and be proud of it as a great project in a class room, or I could actually look into getting it published as a true finished product and seeing if it is marketable.  I never thought I would say something like that, but at this point what do I have to lose?

There would be quite a bit more to it as a completed work of art, or a finalized book.  All the textured areas that I created with the filters in Photoshop would actually have texture in the book of some sort to give not only the picture stimulation but the added effect of hands on stimulation.  I am pretty sure I would tweak some of the text and would be open to constructive criticism to make it an even better and more marketable project.  I have left it open for character development and left a bit of a mystery open in some parts to make a next installment or future books desired and looked forward to for both readers and myself for the creativity of it.  Even if it goes no where I truly want to get this book printed out in a hardback, with a glossy front and back cover and texture where it is implemented with the filters. There would be no disappointment in that even if it is only for me and my kids to appreciate and hand down.

This class has been a positive experience for me.  I have learned a lot and it has opened up other avenues of creativity and media expression that I hadn’t pushed myself to go towards until now.  I am very proud of this final project.

Final Book Project (From Front Cover to Back)

I think it could still use some tweaking in a few places, maybe some text issues or wording but here is my mostly final draft for the Final Book Project.  I present:

Sebastian's World



Book Start: Sebastian's World

I am doing most of my project in Photoshop, when i am done with all the graphics i will transfer it into InDesign for a final project.  I am going to be putting these from top to bottom as it would be flipping through the pages.  I still have a ways to go and this is going end up being more than the eight pages. 

Book Cover

Dedication Page (to my children)

Page 1

Page 2

Page 3

back-cover

Big Project Proposal

Books are a important part of our children's lives.  It is important to get children interested in books at an early age to inspire reading and education.  I am proposing a children's book directed at the ages of between 3 and 5 years.  I am looking at using the dimensions of a standard landscape of approximately 10X8.  The landscape pages give a long and broad view of images to catch children's attention and even make the image itself as long as two pages with the text being a part of both.

This project will have limited and bold text to portray clever terms for the main character of the story.  I have already created one piece of art for this project which is where i am drawing the idea from.  It was originally from one of the typography projects i worked on.  I have actually thought about this idea before i created this image because i think that pets are a huge interest for kids and i can make what already truly exists as a real to life pet into an animated version of himself.  He can be more bold, eye catching and imaginary in book form with perhaps several adventures and a lesson to be learned at the end.  Here is the original project i will be drawing from:

I am currently working on some sketch ideas on this and some title ideas.  I have even played with the idea that this will be the cover of the book, with the title integrated into it in some fashion.

The pages will be bold, full colored and i also like the idea of a texture added into the book and the pages in a few areas to be able to be touched or felt by the childs touch.

As i piece this project together i will be focusing on humor and simplicity as well as artistic favor to capture attention of young children. 

Poster Project 2 Draft 2

Poster Project 1 Draft 2