Summative Statement

Girls are too often portrayed as damsels in distress, inactive until they are seen and saved by a male hero. Changes are needed in the way girls are perceived - how girls view themselves and how others see and value them, to create a better environment. Addressing the notions of masculinity and femininity to children early in life (before biased gender norms are internalized) can have a positive impact in our society. It is therefore important that we portray more self-assertive females in children’s books/tv/movies because the continued lack of recognition that females are individuals who should have the same rights and privileges as males is the key barrier that is preventing social reform. Addressing social norms and gender power structures could also be used to help break the cycle of Global Poverty – a real problem in most developing countries where the society is still patriarchal and inequality between male and female still exists.

As a response to my dissertation I have produced a short children’s picture book about Malala Yousafzai (Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate) – icon for bravery, courage and hope and such an inspiration for all – what better way to teach kids of real bravery and courage by providing them with a real person as example? In addition to this Malala book, I have also proposed to make a series of books based on real stories of success and liberation about girls around the world. In short, my aim with the books is to further develop girls’ positive perceptions of themselves and shift how others see and value them. I believe that bringing more females of different cultures in books could help raise awareness of issues happening to girls around the world which I hope will encourage empathy to increase prosocial behaviours as well as reminding young girls that they too are capable of achieving great things.

Final Outcome

I am really pleased with what I've produced for this module! I think this is my best work to date! I actually feel that I have really pushed myself during the whole of this module (written and practical) because I think the topic is something that I'm really quite interested in and passionate about - I enjoyed it more as well - which is such an absolute contrast to previous CoP projects, where I just lacked enthusiasm. I still can't believe that I illustrated a whole book in just under a month! I have my classmates to thank for that - for believing in me! Also, I am so happy that I got to practice my background, colour and lighting skills - I think I've improved a lot! I must keep up this enthusiasm after graduation!

Book Development / Book Dummy

This is the first mock up that I made of my book for the practical crit before we broke up for the holidays. I've tried to keep it as real and true as possible by using Malala's autobiography (which I read beforehand) and photos of Pakistan found online (Pinterest Board here) to inspire me with my illustrations. Some of the sketches here didn't make it into the final book as I decided that some of them weren't really necessary. I also changed the format and size of the book to fit the required specifications for blurb printing. I think the only thing I'm pretty disappointed about is that I don't have very much (if any) experimental work - most of the time went into research for the story instead and the actual production of the book. I had to set an earlier deadline date for myself as well so that my book would be printed and arrive before the submission deadline. Because of the limited time scale to complete the project, I decided to use the media that I am most comfortable with, that I know will allow me to get the project done on time.

Final Crit - Peer Feedback

I'm really happy with the feedback I got today! First and foremost, I am glad that other people can easily grasp the link between my practical and written work - this was a problem I had with my previous CoP projects. I know for a fact that this module is not my strongest, but this year I really wanted to nail it and really do my best! I wanted to prove to myself that I can tackle this module called Context of Practice and produce something that I would be happy with. After the crit today I think it is quite safe to say that I've done so much better than last year and the year before, which I'm really pleased about! Working hard (almost throughout my winter break) has definitely payed off because I feel like (and feedback also suggest) that I don't have anything else that I need to do until submission next week! I think I am at the point where I can relax a little bit, and so I think I will. Just something to remember for next time.. I must try to use my sketchbook more in the future because I think that is what I'm lacking! (as usual).

Also, my actual physical book arrived today (but after the crit - so people didn't get to see it). I absolutely love it! The stock and printing makes it so much more professional! There are some things that are really bugging me - all my fault to be fair. Firstly, I didn't place my illustrations all the way to the bleed line so there are white lines on the bottom of each page in my book:

I'm really tempted to re-trim it myself, but I've decided to resist. I don't want to risk ruining it when the deadline is so close! Secondly, I am now regretting reusing the same Malala illustration in most of the pages in my book - I think if I did it once or twice, it would still be okay, but I reused it too often. Which makes it feel quite repetitive! No one in the crit commented on it though, so maybe it's not too bad and that I'm just being really critical of myself? The reason I did this was so that it would save me time and allow me to finish the book faster (since I set an earlier deadline for myself), but now I know that this is not such a good idea. I know for sure that if I were to get it published I would re-do some of them and diversify the facial expressions a bit more.

Overall though, I am really proud of myself and pleased with what I've produced! It's definitely a major step up from Level 4 and 5 so I'm very much satisfied.

Additional Merchandise Research

I decided to do a bit of research on product ranges based on children's books as I also want to propose making additional products based on my book. The images below I think sum up the common products that are produced around children's books: mugs, bags, badges (school related things and homeware).

Book Development

Double page spread below is the one I worked on today - my book is finally finished and ordered for printing! I've been informed that the estimated delivery time is 13th January or before, so one day before the deadline - a bit risky, but I have faith, hopefully it'll arrive on time. I wanted to print more than one copy of my book but I've decided to wait because I want to find some printing places in Leeds or Bristol first because they might turn out cheaper. 

I had to adjust some pages again, because there were some errors according to the blurb plug-in (just realised 32 pages doesn't include the covers with blurb so had to add a few more pages at the start and end to make 32) so the first couple of pages have changed slightly, but this doesn't affect the story really so its alright!

I've been posting sneak peeks of my book online, and I am so thrilled that people are actually showing interest in it! I really do want to continue with this project and develop more children's books like my Malala one after graduation and actually approach publishers or maybe collaborate with human appeal organisations (if thats even possible). I want to use my skills to help people and to try make a positive impact in the world (also to help me grow as a person by putting myself in people's shoes and understanding more about things) - I want to help raise awareness of issues happening around the world, encourage empathy to people early in life and increase prosocial behaviours. This is something I feel is really important and something I really care about! I might come across as unbelievably cheesy, but a better world is really what I want to strive for!

I'm really tempted to submit my book (or a couple of pages from it) to The World Illustration Awards 2016 for the Children's Book category! I'm going to ask what Fred or Teresa thinks!

holy guacamole, its so expensive to enter though.. 

Book Development

At the moment this is what I have for the front cover. I've decided to go with 'The Girl Who Stood Up' instead of 'The Girl With A Voice' because this sounds like its a story about singing. The title i've decided to go with is quite similar to her autobiography, but maybe thats a good thing? I thought it also goes better with the quote I'm putting on the back cover: "... I want to be remembered as the girl who stood up". I also thought it would be a good idea to keep the cover quite simple to compliment the pages inside (loads of colours and illustrations). Though it's quite simple, I think it also looks rather bold with the title on a plain background - makes you curious to pick it up and flip though the pages to see what the book is about. But it might still change once I finish the book.. we'll see.