Final BA Project week 5

Yesterday I had a critique of my project. Looks like I've been stuck for a while with the design of my book. As much as I enjoy drawing random characters, it's about time to focus on the hardest part of book making - putting it all together.

I was advised to use a sketchbook format for my book. This would make sense as it's such an important part of the creative process! I was focused too much on a clean and simple presentation of my characters so it started to look dull and repetitive. Hey, where's your playfulness?

I'm still working on my storyboard, which is taking way too long. My creative process is more intuitive and spontaneous than thought-out. Not very time-efficient, but as long as I enjoy the process, that's all that matters. About ten weeks left to finish this project!

Next week we'll have a midterm review, so it would be good to have a rough dummy book printed out by then. Lots to work on this week, but at least, now I do know what I want, although it took me more than a month to figure it out. I need to make the process of creating as FUN as I can. That's the key to a successful picture book. Of course, you have to believe in your project as well. Even if it takes a lot of failures since that's part of the process too...

A great designer and illustrator Rilla Alexander gave an inspiring talk about her creative process, which I found very relevant to my BA project. She explains how "Her Idea" came to life and how strongly it was influenced by her own creative struggles. At the end of the talk, you can hear her reading this wonderful book, which could be appreciated both by children and adults. So down-to-earth and sincere, please enjoy!