The brief:
To create a set of 3 books for children aged 3-5. One book focusing on the alphabet, one on numbers, and the third on colours. Along side these books will be a set of learning materials as well. 
I chose this project because it fits in with my passion for teaching and working with young children and it is unlike any other project I have tackled in my time at university. 

Research through dissertation:

• Picture books are impressionable texts aimed at children in their early years.
• Children's picture books are often more visual than verbal, heavily illustrated with less text. 
• Children categorise according to thematic principles not taxonomic principles. Such as: cakes and tables or dogs and frisbees, instead of all foods or all animals. This is at the pre operational stage (2-7 years).
• Drawing and painting is how many children express ideas and thoughts.
• Children's early mark making is usually seen as a precursor to later literacy learning, although drawing may be a more powerful tool as it is immediately interactive in ways writing is not. 
• Visual representation is an important means of communication. 
• Studies have shown a positive relationship between creativity and academic achievement. Creativity and learning can be complementary. 
• The Feelings Artbook by Ruby Radburn and Ellen Tocher. An activity book designed to help young children develop their emotional literacy skills through creativity and drawing. Can be used with parents or professionals in a range of educational and therapeutic settings such as homes or classrooms

Initial idea generating:

Initial idea generating based on previous research in my dissertation and looking at kids books.

References to help understand what first books look like and contain generally. This helps me work out what I want to keep and change in my own books.

These are some relevant books I found in Waterstones. 

As previously mentioned, children learn best when drawing, it is immediately interactive in ways writing is not. So the "I draw and you copy" approach may be the most effective. Although after a chat with Vince, who has a 3 year old child that can be engaged for ages in activity books searching for things, the "find all in that category" approach may be the most effective.

Initial ideas for "I draw, you copy"

Alternatively, initial ideas for "find all in that category..."

Starting some rough visuals and developments:

They say what they need to say in a very basic way. How can I make these more designs more exciting and engaging for 3 year olds???

Could I use a character? Should they be gender neutral so all kids can relate and interact the same? Could the colours be bolder? Would some different mediums help the colour?

Before I go any further with development, I should look into mockups and printing. 
At https://mixam.co.uk/ the minimum pages for a book to be printed is 24. So my colours and numbers books are too small to print.
I also wanted a stapled or wire binded book, which is either unavailable or too expensive. A perfect binded book is available at a decent price though. 

reasonable.

WHAT?!?!?!

Had a sudden realisation that I had been counting pages as singles not doubles. So my page count doubled, prices were the same for the perfect binded book, and almost £1000 for a stapled book! Who has that kind of money?!

​To solve the problem of the page count, I could make 1 book with 3 sections instead of 3 books?

Having a rethink:
During a talk with Tony it was brought to my attention that with this activity book - whether they are used at home or by schools - once the kids draw in them they cannot be used the same again, only to be looked at and not for doing activities.
Maybe there is another way to present these books? 
Looking back to my initial research and references, I could create a book similar to the Peppa Pig and Elmer books but have something along side my book for kids to use and draw on? A personalised whiteboard? Another book with blank pages or linework for them to colour in? 
Also thinking about the layout and backgrounds of the developments I've completed so far. Is a block colour best for the background? How can the illustrations and layout be more fun and what media should they be in?

Media Trials:
I wasn't sure what kind of vibe I wanted from the illustrations in the book. So I chose some illustrations and did them in acrylic paint and watercolour pencils to see what they looked like and help me choose. 

acrylic paint

Reference images

initial watercolour pencil experiments (I had not used them before)

watercolour pencils. I preferred using these and how the final outcome looks compared to the acrylic paint based on the textures and colours.

Now to put these drawings onto various backgrounds: 

this is my favourite, it shows the drawings off best and splats are more fun than solid of gradient colour backgrounds

Cover ideas:

Need to think about background and colour. But I like the basic composition.

these splats and colours go with the inside pages but it is not illustrative or engaging

Section page ideas:

Whiteboard ideas:

Meeting with the head lecturer for the Primary PGCE at Fusehill Street campus:

• Children need to learn phonics and associate letters with sounds, 
• they need to learn the shape of the letter, 
• ​gym like activities are often used to help prepare children's muscles for the action of holding and using a pencil, 
• interactive and messy ​activities like drawing and making shapes in a sand pit help children remember and learn better and faster, 
• https://www.jollylearning.co.uk/jolly-phonics/ , 
• blob trees are good for gender neutral characters, they can still be fun, interactive and relatable. Stick people still have gender unlike blobs. (also, stick people aren't challenging my illustrative ability!)

How can this information play into my book?

• There could be 2 whiteboards that come with the book. The drawing one I already have, and a phonics one where they can trace letters and numbers to learn shapes. 
• Instead of the stick person, it could be a paint blob with arms and legs or jelly like character. It would be fun and engaging while challenging my ability as an illustrator. 
• I could acquire a small sand pit to present along side my book at the exhibition as an interactive part for drawing in. 

Character design: 

Prof. Peanut for the win :)

rough digital sketches and designs

watercolour pencil professor peanut

New whiteboard designs:

With new type:

New page designs:

page inspiration

type inspiration

https://www.1001fonts.com

Number Navigations 1:

Number Navigations 2:
​New type

Number Navigations 3:
Changing type and composition

Number Navigations 4:
Removing the harsh centre line/fold

Colour Creations 1:

Colour Creations 2:
Bolder illustrations

Section pages:

Going back to thinking about printing. My book is a very unique shape which will up the price of printing with a company like Mixam. 
I origianlly wanted a set of 3 books and printing 3 small books with Mixam is more expensive than printing 1 large book.
​Maybe I could print them myself and staple bind them? This means I could still have 3 separate books that are also this long shape. 
​This cover and section pages would not be needed. But a cover for each individual book. 
​(Also, how does one make a whiteboard??)

Rough mockups 1:

Colour Creations 3:
Without the constricting bubbles for the illustrations. Fun scenes like with the numbers book.
Does the text also need to be the same colour? 
Having fun. Making Professor Peanut work. 

Colour Creations 4:
​New type

Colour Creations 5:
Changing type and composition

Colour Creations 6:
​Getting rid of the harsh centre line/fold

Alphabet Adventures:
​Taking all the development from numbers and colours and putting into the alphabet book

Covers 1:

Rough mockups 2:

If the pencil is on the spine, then the cover pages need to be longer to match the inside pages

Covers 2:

New cover designs:

Design feedback from Damon:

• Use the space, don't squish type and illustrations together
• Bigger pages, double the size of the book to create more space but also to make it easier for parents and kids to read together
• Let the illustrations breathe, show them off, they are the focus
• Knock back the background colours, very pale colours or off white
• Consistent text, around 95% black, couple point sizes smaller
• Pick out a word on every page to have a different colour or font, not just a page here or there
• Simpler and fun titles for the books, "number navigations" is too long for small children and also not that fun
• Use prof. peanut, introduce him better, make the books an adventure he talks you through
• Try to get into a school for first hand research and reactions from kids

New series title:
Professor Peanut's Learning Library
​
New book titles:
A Peanut Through the Rainbow
A Peanut's Number Quest
A Peanut Learning Letters

The new books:

Colour: 

This is the only different coloured page, The bats didn't sit right on a paler background, it is also a scary page so grey works better

Numbers:

Alphabet:

Covers:

Printing:

This seemed like it would be so simple.
I was wrong.
I spent so long trying to figure out InDesign. Once I figured out how to use it, figuring how to split up pages and which one matched which one, that was hard!
​I thought I had cracked the code. 
I was wrong again. 

Time to try again. Did I crack it this time?

We're getting closer. 
This time the pages all faced the right way up by long edge binding when printing, not short edge.
However, only the orange pages match up correctly. All of the others are still mixed up. 
​How does that happen? How can I fix it?

Due to the troubles with printing so far, I have decided to simplify it for myself. With printing each page singularly and stitching them together nicely instead of perfect or staple binding. There will be no confusion with matching pages and stitching will look more professional than staples. 

All printed A3! Now to bind them!

One book bound! It is a little messy but now I know how to improve with the other two. Some bigger pre-poked holes will make the needle and thread go through smoother and neater.

Already neater by using larger pre-pokes holes!

All bound!!!

See the next pages for learning materials and final product --->

<--- Final majors

Learning materials --->