Monday, 28 November 2016

Study Task 4: Books


Fiction
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
Illustrated by Minalima


The Jungle Book is one of the most popular children's classics ever and this updated version really amplifies illustration and design as a companion to the story. One of the many successes of this version is the colour palette that reflects the vibrant culture of India; its' heat, spices and people. I also really like the interactive features including postcards, concertinas, spinning dials, fold-out maps and trifold illustrations. It adds participation from the young audience to get involved with the story beyond just reading and to enjoy the illustrations on a deeper, more functional level than just looking at them on a page. The recognisable title and front cover initially drew me to the book but it was the content that made me fall in love with it. For the last brief of the Visual Skills module, I was looking into negative images, limited colours and simplified motifs for my book cover and seeing these elements on a physical published book delighted me!

Non-Fiction
Drawing The Curtain: The Cold War in Cartoons
by Sergei Khruschev and Timothy S. Benson


This isn't usually the style of illustrated book I would select, as I am not the biggest fan of cartoon-style drawings - especially politically charged caricatures - but I was drawn to the binding of the book, the weight of it and the cotton material the cover is made from. It is really well crafted which makes it technically beautiful, even if the images inside aren't. Juxtaposition! As well as aesthetics, I was intrigued about the content itself and how it may help me in my Context of Practice essays - particular the image analysis piece - as my chosen quote has a political overarching theme. With a historical, societal and political narrative running through the book, it is aimed at a selected audience who are interested in propaganda art, the Cold War or political illustration in general. Soviet works are places alongside Western cartoons to give both sides of the story giving strong similarities and contrasts to perceptions and ideals. Some of the art inside has a shock-factor to it and other times there is a great sense of humour and parody. 

Picture Book
The River by Alessandro Sanna


The River is a very charming book about the seasons, with a narrative context binding stories and experiences together. Each season has it's own dedicated chapter. I don't think the book is aimed at any particular audience, anyone can enjoy and relate to the simplicity of the theme and the magic of the illustrations. It illustrates the connections between people and places - and the stories we have tied to them. The River portrays the flow of time and the cycle of the year and the chosen media of watercolour gives it a very energetic ebb and flow, capturing the motion of time and how time waits for no one. Colours are vibrant with little detail to characters, but a lot of character given to the skies and natural world. Compositions are akin to graphic novels or comics but sit within loose frames. I was drawn to this book after I heard my peers suggesting it - and I was not disappointed when I had a look myself. Young and old can appreciate this beautiful little book!

Self-Published
January by Eleni Kalorkoti


January is a pocket-sized zine; just one part of an ambitious project where Kalorkoti produced a small publication each month about her life. After moving to London, living in a new house, meeting new people and have a totally different life Kalorkoti wanted to use her A6 zines as an autobiographical channel for her experiences and thoughts, and functions as a monthly diary of sorts. She uses her preferred technique of hand drawing and then colouring in Photoshop - creating charming vector shapes which lay the foundation to her cutesy character designs - but each zine issue uses different media to experiment and push herself as an illustrator. The successes of January come from the limited colour palette of burnt orange, cream, yellow and black - providing a warmth and hope for the New Year ahead - and simple shapes to form characters, objects and places. Without researching though, I had no idea what this zine was about... is this a possible failure of the work or is the ambiguity intentional? There is no relationship between images and text, due to the lack of text, so I imagine images can be interpreted however they want to be. I was drawn to the repeated motifs on the cover as well as the functional size of the zine.

Reflection
I found this session really useful and especially well-timed for the Visual Narratives module; where I will be creating a picture book in the near future. It was beneficial to look at different types of books I don't usually look at, from a personal preference stand-point, such as graphic novels as well as printed material I would like to look at, such as zines, but don't have access to as they are only small-scale publications. I was able to take in the breadth of composition, character design, colour palettes, visual language, tone of voice, images working in relation to the text, or not at all and cover designs which will be extremely useful when creating initial sketches for my work.

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