A Day in the Lakes with Beatrix Potter

So, on Sunday I went to the Lake District for the day. You may have read in a previous post from last year, about my weekend in the Lakes, and that the Beatrix Potter Gallery was closed when we went to visit it. Well, this it has since re-opened, and so this is what we went to see.

The exhibition for this year is 'The Tale of "The Tale of Peter Rabbit."' This is from the website: 'To help celebrate Peter Rabbit's 110th birthday, our Gallery exhibition for 2012, is a fascinating look at how Peter Rabbit came about. Using a range of items from our Beatrix Potter Collection, seen together for the very first time, you can learn how Beatrix Potter brought Peter Rabbit to life and see the original art work used for the book's first privately-printed run.'

I saw these in real life!

Well, I actually saw the original black and white illustrations from Beatrix's very first published work. You could still see the pen marks, and scratches from the nip on the illustration. There also a few colour illustrations celebrating 100 years of Mr. Todd. These were so amazing to look at, you could see the brush strokes, and where she placed the watercolour paint. As amazing as the Peter Rabbit illustrations were, you hadn't seen anything until you saw the colour illustrations. They were truly inspiring and completely magical. The only downfall was you weren't allowed to take photographs, so I couldn't capture the magic. I would recommend anyone who had the opportunity to go visit the gallery; the gallery is even housed in Beatrix's husband, William Heelis' old office!

Hayfever time... part 2!

So, you may remember, I posted some hayfever packaging designs in a previous post. Well, I received some feedback on this, and so improved it, but have only got round to posting it on here now. Anyway, feedback was, the girl seemed a little obvious, and needed some more personality, the colours should be fun, and the dandelion seeds need to be made more of. Well, here is my (hopefully) improved design for the main medicine packaging and the bottle label:

Callling all French readers!

Lately I've noticed that my blog has attracted various readers from countries outside of the UK. I don't know if you just come across it, or whether you follow my entries, but I could really use some of your help please!

We were given a new brief for the Macmillan Prize 2012, which is to illustrate either an original story, or a traditional story, e.g. a fairy tale. After some researching, I have found a fairy tale that I am interested in illustrating, but I'm really struggling to find some information on it. The fairy tale is a French tale, called 'Starlight'. I only came across it on Wikipedia, but I really like the storyline, and think that it would make a great visual story. So, if any of you have any information on this fairy tale, and any books that have it in, it would be very much appreciated! Thank you!

Creepy Crawlies everywhere!

So, after the Caldecott brief, we were given another brief with a list of creepy crawlies facts. We had to choose 3, and illustrate each statement, and then place them in a grid, with the right typeface and spacing. Well, today we had a a group crit on our final pieces. I can't believe I'm saying this, but it went really well! My tutor was really happy with it, she said the concepts were really lovely, the halftones and shapes were really nice, the text grid was good, and the same with the typeface, weight and spacing. The only thing I needed to tweak was the text on the ant and rocket, as they were too close together. I have done that now, and here is the final piece:

I'm so incredibly happy that they liked it! Hopefully you do too! Drop me a comment, and let me know. Thanks.

Oh, hello again!

Sorry it's been a while. We've had our Creative Futures week this week, so it's been pretty much a full on week. I can tell you this though, I have never been so tired! (That's what 3 days a week does to you!) Most of the speaker's provided valuable insight into the industry, and gave us lots of advice on how to break into it. Some memorable lecture were from illustrator/animator Karen Cheung, Andy Cheetham from Cheethambell JWT, and Jonathan Edwards who did a smashing talk on Character Design.

We have been given a new brief (one of many, at the minute) to do a blog on Creative Futures week, and the sessions we attended, critically evaluating how the information we received can and will help our work in the future, along with research etc. Anyway, this will be going up soon in the next day or two. (I still haven't decided whether to set up a new blog, or add it on to my Contextualising Design blog.) Decisions, decisions.

Caldecott = Done!

So, as I previously posted, we were having a group critique on our final pieces for the Caldecott Competition brief. Well, it went quite well, actually. The tutors liked my piece! Which is such a relief right now. Just had to tweak a few things, colour wise, but here is my final piece:

This is the Cat,

That killed the Rat,

That ate the Malt,

That lay in the house that Jack built.

I know this style is quite different to how I have worked in previous pieces, but this is how I would like to work in the future, i.e. a collage effect, with patterns and textures.

Well, now we've got this one out of the way, we have been given THREE new briefs! One of these is about our dissertation for next year; to come up with a proposal for the final piece. Got to get my thinking cap on!

Caldecott rough

So, I have previously mentioned that we have been given a brief to illustrate a text that has been illustrated by Randolph Caldecott. I chose 'The House that Jack Built,' and chose the verse: "This is the Cat, That killed the Rat, That ate the Malt, That lay in the house that Jack built." After designing a initial idea, and having a group crit on it, I was advised to concentrate more on the narrative. During another feedback, I was told that some of my images/designs can seem quite naive and too simple. If I am to carry on working in a simple style, then I need something that will make me more quirky and original. From this feedback, I went away and designed another rough for the rhyme, and it was (finally) okayed. So, here it is...

This is the Cat, 

That killed the Rat,

That ate the Malt,

That lay in the house that Jack built.

I know it still looks quite simple, but I plan to change this, when I add media/colour. I am planning to use a collage effect, making the most out of pattern etc.

Final piece coming soon...