Evaluation...

I have taken these photographs of my final poster (I retook with some better lighting so I am much happier with these photographs than I was of my earlier shots). Overall I am really happy with what I have managed to produce- I love the colours which have translated pretty accurately to print and I am glad to see that the details are still visible. The style is something that I really engaged with throughout the project, I was inspired by the children's Charlie and Lola books and I think that this is clarified through the use of digital mixed media elements (patterns and textures in combination with my own hand-drawn artwork) which has really integrated a textural quality to my finished piece. I have a put a lot of effort into the design and am over the moon with my final outcome, I think that it is visually appealing and tells its story in a way that is very personal to me. I wanted it to be fun, quirky and engaging and I feel like I have conveyed this well. This is also in accordance to the Wetransfer brief that required a more personal response.

Although I initially set my target audience as young designers (which I established through my journey and message - the idea that young people have this elusive future in front of them with an end goal but the focus should actually revolve around the journey that we take to get there). I have definitely ended up making it more of a personal one for me (which is fine because the Wetransfer brief doesn't require an audience) which has allowed me to think creatively out of the box. Having said this I am still confident that my message would resonate because I think I have generated a response that is visually interesting and intriguing with a nice clear message. I also feel like it would perhaps resonate with a wider audience than I initially set myself because its a very simple message that can certainly be applied to all.

I have really stretched myself illustration wise- telling a story was a lot more complicated than I thought it would be I had to draw out various positions and facial expressions which required a lot of patience. Thanks to my digital medium I was thankfully able to easily repeat limbs but I tended to redraw out my face because it looked more natural rather than using an element that I had previously created. I tried to keep my design relatively simple but it has definitely grown as a story/journey which was actually lovely because it illustrates my point perfectly. I am glad that I chose to limit it to two characters (myself and the bird) just because I was able to do more with those characters and focus on making the journey bright, vibrant and grounded within my own little mixed media world.

I was worried about my digital version but after much deliberation I have managed to use a piece of my printed version that I felt best translated into a digital aspect. I was influenced by Wetransfer's make your own desktop wallpaper tester so I generated a digital version of my message (which sums up my whole concept) that worked well as its own element but also had strong ties to my journey. 

I managed my time relatively well - it took a lot of planning and drawing in order for me to clarify my idea but once I realised that the print piece was going to be key and translated my ideas that were going to be for an animation into the print medium it became very easy and fun to produce. I ended up with a weeks breathing room which allowed me time to make final corrections and print. 

In summation I am very proud of what I have produced and would consider creating more designs that are story based simply because I have loved being able to draw all of my elements and piece them together. Its been nice following a particular drawing arc all the through (instead of then having to animate or translate into another medium). I am still very much enamoured by stop motions and animation but generating this print story has allowed me to really experiment with my chosen style which I think has helped me grow as an illustrator.

Print

Digital Piece