Spread Addition Continued

The second page is one which shows Gonzo and Ruby sharing a moment where they are laughing and enjoying their company. I wanted to place them on the grass.

Illustrating the second page of the spread:

I began by drawing Gonzo on the grass.

Again, capturing the outline was a tricky process, as I wanted it to flow as well as the one of the previous page does. As the bottom of the first page is white, it meant it was easier to blend out the design, but as this page has green grass at the bottom and a blue sky at the top, I found it trickier to blend it.

With the later incorporation of the scene being set at night time, I then proceeded to add the nights sky in different variations.

 

After dismissing the idea of the moon, I then proceeded to include stars, which I hoped would add to the night sky.

Finalised Page 10:

Finalised Spread:

I am delighted with the finalised spread. I would not of came to this final design without the help of user testing. I tested almost 10 different adults and 6 children within my target audience for this spread. Some of the changes they assisted me with was the inclusion of stars and the removal of the moon.

Page 19/20 Changes

This spread is one that I have been struggling with for quite some time. I settled on the idea of the yellow and black lines in the background but I was never really happy with that and always knew I would revisit the page further along.

Change in writing:

I changed the writing to try and bring the reader into Gonzo’s thoughts. Instead of used “Gonzo grew panicked as Ruby Robin was in danger. He terribly feared this unwelcome stranger.” I decided to go with “OH NO! Ruby Robin is in DANGER! What will I do about this unwelcome stranger?” I feel as though the change in this text completely restructures the spread.

Previous Spread:

Changes:

I began to draw a typical yellow warning sign.

 

I then began to experiment with different ways of using this on the page. I decided that I needed to evaluate this, as I felt as though because I was looking at it for so long, it was blurring my vision. I gave the different spreads to my sister, who brought it into her primary school classes. There was mixed views from the children, who did really like the idea of the lines, but I still felt that it was slightly over powering, and didn’t flow well with the rest of the book. After asking several different friends, who I think have a good eye for design, the majority felt the same as me, as though the lines were too over-powering.

Finalised Spread:

I decided on removing the lines while still keeping the warning sign in. This really helps to stress the point that Ruby is in danger. It is also good for children to learn of the different icons and symbols that represent warning, so I thought that this inclusion made the spread. I like that it is one of the few spreads which supports a completely white background. I find that it really brings the character out of the scene and makes it clear that this is Gonzo’s thought process. I am delighted with the chosen spread.

 

 

Night Sky Background

The night sky be the background used in the majority of the book where the setting is a ‘cold and rainy night in December’. I researched various different night time skies that are used in tv shows and books and a lot of them consist of a purple hugh like the colour below.

I felt that this shade did not suit the idea of the night being cold and in the month of December. It felt like more of a summer sky. I experimented initially with blues, before deciding that grey could work the best. The blue completely took over the book and was far to heavy and dark.

  

Sky Backgrounds

The sky is a part of my book that will be used on the second, third, fourth, seventh and eight page of my book as well as possibly on the front and back cover. This means I must experiment on getting the perfect sky for these pages.

I began my experimentation initially by scanning and browsing through various different ‘sky blue’ shades online. I placed Gonzo in front of some of these shades that I found to be most appealing.

I came across a lovely sky image on google that I tried to recreate in illustrator using the gradient tool.

Developing the correct gradient for the back of the book was the next step for me. After experimenting with some different shades of blues, I stumbled across one that really caught my eye. I created a gradient swatch where I incorporated this shade with a darker blue on the top and made it dissolve into white at the bottom, just above the grass line.

I created a gradient swatch where I incorparated this shade with a darker blue on the top and made it dissolve into white at the bottom, where I plan on putting grass in. This can of course then be altered according to the different pages as I see fit throughout the illustration process.

Finished Sky:

 

 

Backgrounds – What I want to achieve

I have been thinking a lot about backgrounds that I can use in my book. I want the overall look and feel to be of a sketched, hand-drawn feel, with the contrast of some large blocks of colour on certain pages.

I really like the minimalistic backgrounds that I have come across in various different childrens book, which show some pages purely based on a white background, with other pages having heavily detailed backgrounds. The contrast often works very well.

I have composed some examples below, to show my best what I am thinking in my head!

‘Sketched-look’ backgrounds

‘Colour-Block’ Backgrounds

I took inspiration for this type of backgrounds from a variety of books and TV shows, mostly nickelodeon ones! I am a big fan of the backgrounds in shows like ‘Fairly Odd Parents’ and ‘The Angry Beavers’. I like the idea of contrasting backgrounds on different pages.

‘Plain white’ backgrounds

I love the idea of complete white backgrounds with the characters acting out the scene at hand. I have attached examples of this below.