Negotiated Programme Presentation and Script

Negotiated Programme Briefs. 

The first brief I created for myself was to create a compelling narrative for a picture book which has a thought-provoking message behind it. 

This will be in the format of a children’s picture book and will be targeted at children from 2 - 8 years old. I also want to make the story interesting enough for the parents to enjoy, This by them being  able to see the moral behind the narrative and learn something from it too. 

The second brief is for an illustrated trail. For this I will design a brand-new trail for Trentham Estate that is engaging and educational for children. This will include posters/signs dotted around the Italian Gardens for the children to follow the story along. The target audience is children from 3- 10 years old and families that visit the gardens. 

Children’s Picture Book Research 

Initially I wanted the story to be light hearted surrounding an Orangutan who doesn’t fit in. It would have a basic moral about understanding each other's differences. However, when I started to do further research into the environment that the Orangutan lives in, I knew I wanted the story to have a bigger meaning to it. This is how I came up with the idea of using deforestation in the book. Before I went further into writing the story, I realised I wanted to read children’s books with similar themes. When researching I found out that sometimes stories regarding the environment, global warming etc can seem too preachy for the adult and it becomes less enjoyable. So, I knew this theme needed to be underlying. 

Children’s Picture Book: Story Development

When developing the story I began creating different characters and scenarios the Orangutan would be in.

 I started to develop the idea of the Orangutan leaving his home with his mother due to a rumbling sound. By doing this the deforestation is implied. When leaving home, he loses his mother so his adventure to find her again begins.

 Along the way I wanted the Orangutan to help characters with different activities. For example a Rhino doesn’t have a horn, so the Orangutan builds one and in return the rhino joins him on his journey. 

Another key element of the story was before he meets the different characters he would return home to see it's completely different. While brainstorming different sections of the story I began to thumbnail. 

Children’s Picture Book: Development 

I began to thumbnail different sequences until I got to the one I preferred. In some thumbnails I added characters, took out scenes and even took out characters too. I ended up landing on having the Orangutan as the main character. And 3 side characters; the mother, the rhino and a hornbill. 

When deciding on the characters, I did colour mock-ups of the settings and the characters meeting. As well as this I started to design the book cover and came up with the name “Help!” This is because throughout the story, the Orangutan helps others and receives help too. 

Children’ Picture Book: 

So, here’s the outcome so far, I am still in the process of finalising my thumbnails and I will include my name on the front cover.  But as you can see here’s the front and back cover of the picture book. I wanted the back cover to be a continuation of the front, this was to show the jungle theme. IN the next semester I will recreate this cover and change a few things, such as making the Orangutan bigger and making the perspective more interesting. 

Next semester 

As well as this in the next semester I would like to continue to draft my story. Create high quality illustrations for each page of the books with a typography that suits the narrative- and is still readable for the target audience. I will also look into different methods of producing the final book. This could be through me learning how to make it myself or outsourcing a company that does. 

Illustrated Trail 

For the Illustrated trail brief, I began researching Trentham Estate and looking into its previous trails. Originally I wanted to recreate the history trail and create a new one surrounding spotting animals in the gardens. And I did different initial drawings of the main historical figures and also animals that live in the garden. but when I looked into it further I realised it wasn’t as interesting as I thought. So, when creating moodboards, I saw that the Perseus and Medusa statue was a key part of the Italian GArdens, so I started to create a trail based on this myth. 

Development 

When planning this trail I knew that most trails Trentham have previously done included a word that you spell out along the trail. Once they get the word, they tell one of the employees and get a treat. I knew that I wanted to include this aspect for my trail so that it is a continuation of their branding. And children who have previously been to trails will understand the concept as well.  I decided my world would be “SHIELD” because it’s not too long of a word and it links to the story. When I came with the idea of the trail, I began designing characters and who would be included throughout. At the start I knew I wanted the characters to have sharp lines and features, this is due to the art they made at the time and it also looks sculpture-like. 

Development

During designing the characters, I knew I needed to design the map and thumbnail the signs that would be placed around the Italian Gardens. At first I wanted there to be just six, however, the story felt too condensed down in that format. So, I added two extra signs to the trail, where instead of obtaining a letter you can take a sticker- this is something I’d like to expand on in Semester 2. I also began creating spot illustrations for each sign too. Each sign will have two spot illustrations and one bigger illustration which will guide you to the next sign. 

Outcome so far 

Here’s the outcome so far, I have completed the signs so far with colour illustrations on each one, and the narrative written out. I wanted each sign to be easily distinguishable. This by allocating a main colour to each sign and also having the characters in different animated positions. 

Next Semester 

For next semester I will refine the boards that will go in the gardens. This is buy editing the typography, changing the backgrounds and adding more detail. 

I will also refine the map to make it fit with the theme of Greek Mythology. This will be by adding the characters on the map, sea monsters etc 

I would like to create life size cut out of Perseus and Medusa, for promotional use of the trail

I would also like to include stickers throughout the trail with the black and gold versions of the characters.