Anxious Amy: Final Book Cover Designs
//Category: Brief 4
//Anxious Amy: Cover First Draft
//I decided to change the style of my designs because this one seems more child friendly and playful. I’ve made the illustrations in Photoshop using intous drawing pad and assembled the pages in InDesign. I’m not sure if I’m going to keep the pink colour palette or if I’m going to return to blue. I also changed the main character into an bunny because I think the other illustration looked too scary and serious whereas animals and simple illustration appeal more to kids.
Anxious Amy: Colour Experimentation
//I decided to experiment with colour for my picture book. I want to keep the lines black and add colours to only a few areas of the image. These images were made with Intuos drawing tablet because it allows for an easier experimentation with colour as I don’t have to redraw the image.
I still maintain that blue is the best colour for this picture book. It conveys the atmosphere of the book well and works well with simple line drawings.
Anxious Amy: Typography Experimentation
//To create these typefaces I used Intuos drawing tablet & Photoshop. I wanted these typefaces to have a hand drawn feel to them because most of the children’s picture books I have researched used this type of designs. I also think that these types of lettering appeal to children more and have a more playful side to them. This style of lettering goes well with the style of my illustrations which will be line based and hand drawn. Below are the seven typefaces I designed.
From the above typefaces my favorites are the three first ones and the last one. I think the most applicable typeface for my picture book is either the first one or the third one. This is because of their simplicity and readability. From these two I think I’m going to use the first one in my picture book because I prefer it aesthetically. There are going to be pages which only include text and a chunkier typeface will fill up the space better.
Synopsis Brief 4
//Title
Anxious Amy
Synopsis
Anxious Amy is a short story about a five year old girl called Amy who suffers from Social Anxiety Disorder. On Monday Amy has to go to her primary school which she dreads the nights before, in the mornings and after school. Amy doesn’t like getting out of the house very much and interacting with other people. Every time she has to she gets very anxious. She’s scared when she has to participate in school activities. Sometimes she even sweats and can’t breathe very well. The book takes the reader through the tough day in Amy’s life. Sadly for Amy most days are like this one…
Aims
– Inform children about Social Anxiety Disorder.
– Show children that they’re not isolated because of their Social Anxiety Disorder and that other people have similar emotions which can be dealt with.
– Produce a picture book suitable for children aged 5-6.
Page Breakdown
These are subject to change throughout the development process.
Cover
Has the title Anxious Amy written in large text. Amy is centered on the cover and is surrounded by situations that make her anxious.
Page 1-2
Page 1 includes Amy curled up in her bed hiding behind her duvet. Next to her is a night stand with an alarm clock going off. Her eyes are wide open and she’s shaking. There’s a text saying ‘Time to wake up and go to school!’ Page 2 showcases Amy’s worries about going to school which involves past events and things she thinks might happen and embarrass her such as tripping on her way to write something on the blackboard.
Page 3-4
Page 3 includes Amy standing in the middle of a crowd. Page 4 has text saying ‘hahahahaha…’ taking up most of the space.
Page 5-6
On page 5 Amy is counting to ten in order to make her worries go away. She is surrounded by negative thoughts such as believing that people are laughing at her rather than at a joke in their conversation. The text reads ‘1,2,3…’ On page 6 Amy has her eyes open and there are no more negative thoughts surrounding her. She is smiling.
Rear Cover
Is mostly empty and has the protagonist curled up in the corner of the cover.