Assignment 5: Illustration 1- Key Steps in Illustration- Tutor Feedback and Reflection

Project: Authorial Practice 

This project has been well thought out and put together with care. Try introducing one aspect of colour which might exaggerate feeling.

Avenues such as this might bring you possible income alongside a freelance practice. Seek out ways of building a customer base, put together a list of printers and price points , consider how you might sell these, from a website shop? At markets? Or a print on demand site? 

Project Editorial Illustration 

You continue to show strength in planning and generating ideas.

The expressive use of marks help add action to more static, photographic imagery, your use of colour and tone works very well also.

Consider how the imagery might interact with the text in the article (as shown in your researched article by Graziano ) Here coins might move towards, behind or in between the article text.

Mock your image up within the context of an article in order to test its success and evaluate further. 

I worked on my final image here further and added my response/evaluation.

Project Travel Guides 

You are considerate to format, size and ad design which will wrap around the object.

I enjoy elements such as the travel tag, stamp and dotted directional lines.

The Helsinki polaroid composition, could you move the food off the boundary of the square, where it touches the edge it feels distracting.

All polaroid images might benefit from introducing more life into each scene. Birds flying over, faces in the tram/ boat or foliage/ floral elements.

There is a strong format which carries through but as you mention these feel too similar in approach. Your suggestion of varying the colour in relation to each country would help, also designing a specific font which feels more in tune with each culture. I would also play around with the colour of each polaroid, perhaps bringing in colours from traditional patterns within each country.

They have a lot of potential but need a bit more development, if it is not always clear what you can do to rework final ideas, aim to post work into the forums in order to get a broader overview from other students. 

I need to and will take advantage of student forums for feedback. I will document and improve on the process throughout future tasks.

Project Text & Image 

This shows your ability to be playful with texture and pattern.

Interesting exploration with mark making, scale and colour which help exaggerate communication.

Consider beginning to design your own font alphabets which you can save and use for future projects, how might you integrate your outcomes here into future font/ design of your own? 

Project Packaging 

You have set very clear intentions regarding format, content, audience and show that you consistently design with the end product in mind.

A particular strength here is the way in which your animals interact and play with the biscuits. Perhaps consider playing more with expression also.

Each design is recognizable as a series of products, the colour scheme reflects more healthy, organic produce.

I would try adding a few background elements, plants/rocks etc (on the cream) which wrap around the box might help add more depth. Particularly the Ginger deisgn which has an empty central space.

Overall these outcomes are very encouraging, you might also include some educational information somewhere in order to entice both child and adult further. 

Within the form of a five frame strip you were asked to help illustrate an educational leaflet called ‘What’shappening to my body? It’s all going mad!’ 

Your approach using style and content is very important, here it speaks to this age group in a specific way, the use of texture and colour, the hand written font reflecting journals /diaries would appeal to this age range.

Most importantly you offer a positive resolve and practical suggestions. Perhaps reflect this in some aspect of the leaflet (turning over on the back might illustrate a scene where the boy looks happier, engaged in his sport) Perhaps here using more vibrant colours which lighten the mood.

Try adding an expression to the character looking down his trousers, this might help the humour be more obvious (or a worried/amused parent/friend looking on) 

This was a different task and was definitely a challenge, I wanted to present an illustration that would be interesting for the age group. More of a comical facial expression would definitely be more affective for the age group.

Feedback on Assignment 5 

This Assignment shows how you build up experimentation in the initial stages; instinctive responses with colour and mark making help me see how develop ideas.

Your main aim for future projects should be how you reflect upon final imagery and then put the same energy into tweaking, altering and finalising. Try to evaluate how each page is communicating and which changes might help have more impact.

Envy works very well, disjointed aspects of the face, interesting placement of font alongside colour association.

Greed has less impact, consider how aspects of scale, close up hand/face/eyes might exaggerate this more.

The composition, arrangement, colour and content of lust/ sloth works well.

Pride you might have looking down on their formal self as the image behind gets lost.

The simplicity of wrath has impact but I agree it would be good to play around with more mark and depth.

Try including more urgency for gluttony, test out alternate figures/faces.