Our Client Studies is a brief that will allow us to have experience within the working environment of illustration. Thus, I will brief says we must spend 70 hours performing either placement or project as illustrators.
Over the past week, I have been searching for possible placements and projects, which had been suggested by Lauren Dutton. Eventually I found that Cloth Cat Animation was the best option for me, because it involved designing characters and environments for narrative purposes, which is where my passions also lay. There was a risk that they wouldn’t be available, but on the 19th of October they were confirmed and I received the brief.
Cloth Cat Animation wants a set of characters and an environment in which they live in, with no set theme and no real restrictions. If I remember correctly, it is to create 2 to 6 characters (beings: not necessarily human or living) and one environment that they live in (both in exterior and interior design). For example, a family of lies – all unique – within a toad’s mouth. These will be in the form of two deliverables: the first deliverable will be a set of images showing initial designs and ideas that haven’t been fully fleshed out, in the form of a mood board consisting of 1 A3 PDF (300 DPI); the second deliverable will be a key image of your fleshed out idea, which can be in the form of a poster, a comic, an action shot, et cetera. The first deliverable will be due on the 30th of November at 2 PM, whilst the second deliverable will be due on 11th of January at 2 PM.
As of now, I must make sure to research Cloth Cat Animation’s website and brand, so as to make sure that any ideas I do create will coincide with what they stand for and what they want. I will also make sure to re-read through the brief, so that I am clear on exactly what I must do, what they want, what possible restrictions they may have, et cetera.
This blog post will be consisting of my understanding of the brief and Cloth Cat as an organisation.
Firstly, I have looked on Cloth Cat‘s website and looked at some of the works and projects that they have had a pardon. I can determine that they have focused mainly on the demographics of young children and young adults
After going through the brief, I can understand that this project is focused on people being confined in their homes and needing another environment in which to escape to. Because of this, I could incorporate a similar feeling of isolation and/or confinement in where the small collection of characters and beings are stuck or being held somewhere. It is also important that I consider their personalities, their hobbies and, most importantly, their dynamic and relationship between each other. I’m not entirely certain whether this needs to be explained in deliverable one, as perhaps an annotation. I will perhaps ask about this later, as I will be having a Q&A with Adam Bailey.
Another thing to consider is the actual audience that I will be aiming towards. As previously stated, Cloth Cat Animation is a preference towards children:
Olobob Top caters to children between 2 – 5;
The series follows a group of young creative creatures called the Olobobs. Tib, Lalloo and Bobble live in a big forest and have fun playing, exploring and solving everyday problems. In each episode, they work together combining shapes, colours and patterns to create a new character, who joins in with the Olobobs’ fun, while a friendly narrator encourages them to think for themselves.
Luo Bao Bei has an audience for 4 - 8 year olds;
The series centres on spirited, fun-loving 7 year old Luo Bao Bei as she explores everyday life with her friends, family and animal companions, having adventures and learning that even though we seem different on the outside, the emotions we all feel make us fundamentally the same.
The Rubbish World of Dave Spud is for 6 - 11 year olds.
The Rubbish World of Dave Spud follows the misadventures of underdog Dave Spud (voiced by Johnny Vegas) and his family, as they embark on some extraordinary expeditions along with the likes of Gareth the Starfish and one eyed flea ridden Fuzzypeg the dog!
With that in mind, I imagine any ideas I do come up with must have an element of fun, positivity. I should avoid concepts of doom and gloom and likely should avoid violence or gore. I made sure to mention this in the Q&A as well just in case they have un-specified “do not.”
Another important thing to remember from the brief is that they also want us to think about brand – like logos, fonts and general patterns that would be considered unique to the idea. Consider Charlie and Lola, for example, and how that art style of Lauren Child is so unique to her books. I need to come up with ideas like that as well, with a very unique look. I may find this to be a bit difficult, as it will be hard to be both innovative and original while also being true to myself and my own style. By this I mean that I do not want to be absurdly original for originality sake. It should be me and my style, front and foremost.
Cloth Cat Animation has implied leniency over the software that we would use to create the work. However, they also mention that Photoshop and Illustrator would be options most in line with their artists. I am not sure whether I will use Manga Studio 5.0 or try to get used to using Photoshop and Illustrator in preparation for the future. I may use new software altogether, depending on how interested I am in learning about new software.
I will start to think of possible ideas and will discuss them in the next blog, with the understanding that I have gained from this one. I will try to come up with 2 to 3 initial ideas or concepts and use one of those to develop.