WORKING FOR CHILDREN - Educational strip

You have been asked to produce an illustrated strip of up to five frames for use in schools

explaining to young teenagers how to cope with the onset of puberty. You can decide on

which aspect you want to tackle. Due to the subject matter and the intended age group

it is suggested that you use metaphor and humour when conveying the message –

though take care not to trivialise a serious message. The client would also like you to

provide a single illustration of your character for use on the front cover.

The leaflet is called What’s happening to my body? It’s all going mad!

You will probably find thumbnailing very useful here to work out how each frame will

relate to the others.

You need to submit all stages of the development process – thumbnails, visuals and

client visuals for the cartoon strip and the stand-alone illustration.

Research

I decided to direct my research to girls starting their periods. There is a lot of information on why the body is changing and what to expect, but there seems to be limited information on how to use sanitary products correctly, so I decided to concentrate on this aspect.

I looked for more information in books, the internet, Pinterest and the manufacturers.

Click on the image for more information.

Brainstorming

I brainstormed everything that came to my mind and concluded that my character would be a uterus because I could add expressions and humour to the strip.

Storyline

This image inspired me to create a storyline based on the uterus instead of a human character. I felt that this would bring more humour and be a universal character because I'm using a body part to tell a story that will cross all cultures.

Fig. 1 Cute healthy, happy human uterus (2024)

I developed a storyline in my sketchbook and tried to keep the information short and concise to keep it as simple as possible.

I started experimenting with the colour palette. I wanted pinks and greys so the character could still be the focus, but I wanted to use colour subtly so it would not be overbearing.

Colour palette

This is the colour palette I decided to work with.

Thumbnails

With my storyline completed, I sketched a very rough version in pencil to see how the frames would look.

I then started using marker pens and the colour palette to develop the character further by experimenting with expressions. I decided to name my uterus phonetically to help the reader with pronunciation and also to give the character an identity.

Frame 1

Frame 2

Frame 3

Frame 4

Frame 5

Adobe Illustrator

I wanted my educational strip to have a more polished look, so I re-drew the frames on separate artboards in Adobe Illustrator. This took an insane amount of time as I had to re-acquaint myself with the tools and functions for the details.

Instead of redrawing the uterus repeatedly in Adobe Illustrator, I drew a blank uterus and imported it into the programme. From there, I could use the base shape and add the expressions according to the frame. This gave the strip more uniformity.

Final

Using the same colour palette, the front of the leaflet has a polaroid-type effect. I used the confused uterus and handwritten typography that would appeal to young girls.

When the leaflet is turned over, the educational strip is on the other side.

Mock-up

How the leaflet would look if printed.

Reflection

I had no idea what I would focus on when I first read this brief. However, when I started looking at how books targeted at the age group approached different topics, I began to get more ideas. I was pleased that I used a uterus for the character and then named her "Yooterus" for more humour. I could then play more with the character by adding expressions and using the arms and legs for body language. I had a lot of fun developing this character.

I was also happy with the topic. I felt that so much of the literature focused on the more scientific side of why the body is changing, but a lot seemed to miss the basics, like how to use a pad. I'm very happy with how the typography and colour palette came together. My only setback was using Adobe Illustrator to redraw everything from scratch; this was very time-consuming as I had to familiarise myself with the more complex tools in the program.

References

Hagstrom, C., Schmitt, M. and Sommer, M. (2022) A Girl’s Guide to Puberty & Periods. USA: Grow and Know. P. 38-39

Fig. 1 Kahovsky (2024) Cute healthy happy human uterus. [Vector Image] At: https://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vector/cute-healthy-happy-human-uterus-vector-25803446 (Accessed: 31/07/2024).