Children's Book: Research for Design - Existing Children's Books

Initial concept inspiration:

A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo

The book is about a fictional day in the life of Marlon Bundo, the real-life pet rabbit of Vice President of the United States, Mike Pence and details the same-sex romance between Marlon Bundo and another rabbit named Wesley.

The book and its LGBT-inclusive theme, aimed to deride Vice President Pence over his controversial anti-LGBT views, such as his alleged support for conversion therapy of gay adolescents and opposition to same-sex marriage. It was released on March 18, 2018, one day before the release of Marlon Bundo's A Day in the Life of the Vice President, another children's book featuring Marlon Bundo made by members of Pence's family, and of which the book is a loose parody.

On the day of release, John Oliver promoted the book on Last Week Tonight at the conclusion of an episode mainly dedicated to Pence and his positions on LGBT issues; it became a bestseller and the No. 1 book and e-book on Amazon the following day, receiving notable praise and selling much better than the crew of Last Week Tonight had expected. All profits from the book are being donated to The Trevor Projectand AIDS United.

This book was the initial inspiration for creating a children's book that utilised design as an outlet for social progression, targeting young minds. 

Further secondary research:

Russian Children's Literature

Russian Children's Literature during the 1920-35 has a particularly notable style. The use of shape and colour palettes reflect the aesthetic associate with the propaganda posters of the time. It is interesting to note the way this was translated in children's books and thus the contextual relevance to this visual language. In 1925, Galina and Olga Chichagova illustrated a two-panel poster that called for a revolution in children's illustration in the new Soviet Union. It instructed for mysticism and fantasy to be removed from children's books and in turn replaced with practical and industrial concerns, in order to kickstart the revolution in the younger minds of the population. 

This was applied effectively into the artwork that accompanied new children's books. There was a loss of fantasy and imagination, instead the stories featured a sense of reality and maturity.

The boldness of the colours and shape used is eye-catching and informative. The deconstruction of the imagery is traditional, and the use of this simplified imagery helps to communicate very specific ideologies. The rigid and concise colour pallets, accompanied by the strong use of geometric form is relevant to note for the development of the the design, especially with its political and geographical context.

The Dark - Lemony Snicket and Jon Klassen (2013)

Inline with the narrative direction of the book, Lemony Snicket tells the story of a boy who has a fear of the dark. In this concise story, Snicket and Klassen use minimal text to successfully portray the development of the protagonists bravery and acceptance of the dark. Their use of negative space in particularly noteworthy. Limiting the composition in this way allows an evident eery tone to be communicated. The audience feel the characters unease with the dark which in turn helps in build an emotional engagement.

There's also the act of personifying 'The Dark' which helps in building up a rapport between the reader and character. This assists in breaking down what for many children is a common fear, and reducing it to something that they may eventually find comforting instead of fearful.  

Laika the Astronaut - Owen Davey (2013)

The bold and graphic imagery in Owen Davey's book, in conjunction with a busy yet structured grid system has a really attractive and fitting quality to it. The illustrations follow a Soviet style which in turn helps to visually engage adult readers. Appealing to both an adult and child audience may be quite a successful strategy in ensuring popularity. Considering the book seeks to draw influences from a wide variety of locations, it is useful to note the various tones and design approaches.

Jumble Wood - Helena Covell (2018)

This story was written and illustrated by Helena Covell, a recent graduate of Edinburgh College of Art. Her illustrations present a sense of play and experimentation that is contagious to the reader. She uses a pastel colour palette throughout the story, setting a light and calming tone, reminiscent of springtime. 

The layout of this book is somewhat unique. Placing small areas of type in different yet linear locations around the page is effective in communicating a sequential narrative when combined with the multiple character illustrations. This is something the design is going to have to consider, in order to communicate a lot within one spread and in minimal text. The narrative is taking on a vast subject matter, however must considered a limited word count. 

Accordingly, working with text in such a way will help in utilising space to allow as much information to be conveyed as possible. 

Wood's use of repeat pattern on the inside pages is also relevant when considering product, range and distribution. This is a playful addition that could add vibrancy to the book, and engage a younger audience. The benefits would be that this pattern could then be transferred and used for marketing products such as, book marks, posters, displays etc.

Chimidyue - Chris Lensch and Leslie Falconer (2014)

This book depicts a young girl who lives in the Amazon rainforest of Southern America. It documents her experience of being in the jungle alone for the first time. Scared initially, Chimidyue learns to appreciate the forest through the help of a kind butterfly. 

The vibrant imagery and varying use of type treatments gave the design inspiration for ways of visually communicating the story. The utilisation of space through the double spreads helps to engage children; who require stimulation in a variety of ways in order to maintain their shorter attention spans. Another key element of this book was the index-like section at the back. Considering the cultural theme of this story it seems a really useful attribute to it, especially in educating the young reader.

Paul Rand - use of collage

Paul Rand's graphic and illustrative work developed in the world of corporate design. Known for his 8-bar logo design for IBM as well as many other well recognised advertisements, Rand's sharp, modernist work has impacted graphic design greatly over the years. One of the main methods through which Rand went about creating his work was collage. 

Rand's practice focused on using multiple methods of manufacturing for his imagery, making the viewer think, interact and interpret. His process of simplification and often abstraction has created a legacy of intriguing and timeless pieces. 

Along with his wife, Ann Rand, they created multiple children's books that utilise this style. His limited use of shape and colour allows for bold, playful and eye-catching imagery that, when combined with short/digestible text, works really well for children's reading.

In his book, 'Thoughts on Design', Rand writes,
"Among the great contributions to visual thought is the invention of collage. Collage and montage permit the showing of seemingly unrelated objects or ideas as a single picture; they enable the designer to indicate simultaneous events or scenes which by more conventional methods would result in a series of isolated pictures." 
Here Rand manages to summarise the effectiveness of collage as a design process as well as it's capability of communicating complex information in an easily interpretable manner.