Week 1 - Introduction to Children's Book Design

The main focus of this session was to identify and understand the main characteristics of children's books and products that make them suitable for specific age ranges, as well as the way in which they are effective tools for learning.
  From our research into children's products there were many elements that cropped up across all items despite them being very different in function. The main things I noticed that were key, are that for younger children it is important that bright colours are incorporated as these cause the child to become captivated by the product. Another element I took note of is that the text, if any, was very limited and in a very simple and legible typeface, this aspect is extremely vital as text must be as simple as possible, so that it doesn't confuse the child, plus the vocabulary used must be very basic. For example in children's books, the text within it is solely to help with the child's development of speech, so words must be kept short and simple, and almost replicate simple sounds, so that a child that can not yet talk can begin to repeat after the person who reads the story to them. Obviously this only applies to very young children, and in regards to children's books in particular its clear to see how the targeted age range changes as the language used becomes more complex.
  Moving from the age range of a child to early teens it can be hard to target a product that isn't too sophisticated, in regards to books, that a young teen wouldn't understand but isn't too simple that the teen feels patronised. A product that tackles this difficulty perfectly is the 'Horrible Histories' book series. You can clearly tell that these books are for an older child as the text to image ratio has significantly increased, due to the older child having the ability to absorb and understand more information. However to prevent from the text as a whole becoming boring, the language used is very informal and explains things on a level in which young teens would understand easily. Plus the imagery used in these books is a lot more graphic and gory which helps to engage the specific age range of 11-15, due to it being shocking.

Following our research into children's products we watched a documentry about picture books for very young children. The main things I learnt from this documentary are how important picture books are to even the youngest of children. Some of the picture books in documentary reflected everyday life, and although to parents this could appear to be quite dull and mundane, it's actually quite key for young children as it helps them to understand the world around them. Similarily in Bryan Wildsmiths 'ABC' the illustrations he uses are very brightly coloured and almost look unfinished and to parents these illustrations could seem messy and child-like, however this is in fact what makes it so perfect for a childrens book as it mirrors a childs own drawings which helps them to relate to and understand. Another element that seemed to occur in many of the books that were featured in the documentary was that the Illustrations within the books, held hidden secrets and smaller, background narratives. Including things like this gives the children the upper hand visually as they are being read the story by an adult, as the adults are normally more focused on the text. 'Rosie's Walk' by Pat Hutchins, is a great example of this, as the book has an extremely simple narrative told through the text, however has a more richer narrative that is told visually, which encourages children to explore and search for the story. Another recurring feature in children's books in regards to text is that quite often it carries rhythmic qualities, similar to nursery rhymes,  and despite the narrative in these being pretty much nonsecical, its the song like quality that makes them so memorable for children. Nursery rhymes also act as a bonding excersise for parent and child and helps the child to learn language. Furthermore many picture books use animals in replacement of people as characters, an example of this being 'The Tale of Peter Rabbit' by Beatrix Potter. The main reason that animals are used in narratives is because they stand for any child, of any ethnicity or background, making the book universal.

From the documentary the illustrator that really captured my attention was Beatrix Potter. She was one of the first to both write and illustrate children's books. and the popularity of them is mainly down to the simple, yet intrigng storylines and the beatiful illustrations. Despite the animals in the drawings being clothed they are so accuratly draw that you forget they have been humanised. Because the illustrations relfect real life you can imagine that children would begin to relate the stories they hear from the books to reality. Plus as I previously said using animals instead of people helps for the stories to be universal and enjoyed my all children.
  Plus due to the fact that by now these books are so old, yet still read in the modern age, they also act as a nostalgic experience for the parents and key for bonding between parent and child, because they are sharing stories that they also enjoyed as children. I really think that after Caldecott, who started the concept of Picture Books, Beatrix Potter was defiently the one to execute the formula for children's picture books to perfection, and the fact that she both wrote and illustrated her books, meant that she could easily work with both elements simultaneously to create the best story-telling combination. As it is proven through the fact that these timeless tales are still being published and enjoyed by children today.