2gether

I managed to arrange a meeting with the communications manager at 2gether and it went really well.  It was useful to talk about my work and my project now has more direction.  They suggested some software that I could use called doodle which would turn my work into a presentation video. I 'm not sure if I will have time to experiment with it before the deadline but it is definitely something I will consider.  They gave me a lot of leaflets and hand outs. Photographs are typically used for leaflets and I quite like that I have come up with the idea to illustrate them in a way that hopefully will appeal more to children and help them to take in the advice.

 

Guide to good mental Health

They gave me a hand out that has tips and advice and is a guide to good mental health. They suggested I illustrate the different tips. I felt this was a good idea as I want to illustrate tips and advice but needed to know what advice is given out by mental health organisations.

 



Hand out from meeting



Hand out from meeting - This is one of their handouts that they give to the children they see.  Different things appeal to different children and I thought it would be interesting to try a couple of different styles. I initially wanted to use animal characters because I thought they might be more interesting and less intense for such a heavy subject, therefore helping children relax.  But I decidied I also wanted to experiment with children characts too and in a looser more 'childrens book' style. 

Below are the animal illustrations I created for the 5 tips above. I tried to incorporate the different colours. I initially practised drawing the different animals, sketched out the ideas, then created a simpler version of those ideas and then used Photoshop to add colour and effects. I used bold colours for these illustrations to make them eye catching and to make them work better as posters.

Monkey - I chose a monky for this particular tip because they are considered cheeky and playful which makes you think of being happy and appreciating things.

I'm not sure why I chose a mouse for this particular illustration. I quite like the character, though. 

I tried to think of a mixture of animals. It was difficult for me to draw them in poses that weren't natural poses for the particular animal.



I used a cat and a mouse for this to try and highlight being kind to others despite any differences



Hippo

Some of the above illustration work better than others. I think I need more practice drawing animals in different poses. I quite like the ideas.

 

 

 Below are the illustrations I created using children characters. I quite enjoyed working in this style. I used pen and water colour and then finished using photoshop. I really like keeping a hand drawn quality to them. The have a childrens book feel to them but are in a much more traditional style.  I'm not sure if they will appeal to children today. I think they are quite sweet for leaflets, nice and simple with a plain background so they can look quite natural on a leaflet and don't take away any focus from the information and advice.

 

I kept the style quite loose and like the effect.

I didn't change too much on Photoshop just made them look neater, in order to keep a hand painted charm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think both styles work in their own way.  I think I prefer working in the second style and having children characters.  I'm not sure if it is the best style for communicating my objectives though.  I don't think they would work as stand alone pieces or as posters as they look nicer together and aren't eye catching. 

 

 

 

I put the illustrations into context by creating a leaflet with them. I think they do work quite well for a leaflet.  Not eye catching but quite sweet and calming. Maybe too boring or serious to appeal to children, though. But it was difficult to come up with something extreme or edgy given the subject matter.

 



I think the colours and layout are quite nice.  The illustrations make the leaflets look like a nice thing to keep instead of looking at it once and throwing it away. Maybe this is a good quality as you are then more likely to keep it and remind yourself of the advice more otfen?