Showing posts with label illustrations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label illustrations. Show all posts

Thursday 30 June 2016

WORDS AND PICTURES - How to balance text and illustrations in an illustrated book.


When writing your children's book, you probably took a lot of time with your words; writing, reading them and then re-writing until you had crafted those words into a sentences, sentences into paragraphs and those paragraphs into a beautiful story that you can't wait to share with the world.

Then, like so many other authors, you let someone else handle the rest and they 'plop' the words onto the middle of a page in Times New Roman. Sigh.

I've worked as a full time illustrator for over seven years and one thing I have learnt is that exactly where and how you plop the words in a book makes a huge difference. The typography and placement is just as important as the illustrations. The two should come together and create a visually appealing page that reads naturally instead of clashing.

Here's some of my own DOS AND DONTS for making the most of your text. You can use these yourself, or pass them along to your illustrator or designer who can try them out for you. I'm always interested in hearing your thoughts too, so if you've got some ideas that I haven't mentioned, please feel free to comment below!


DO match your font to the story.




Try and pair your font with the nature of your book. For example; a story about a Princess who chews bubblegum might be light and rounded, but a book which involves monsters and dark forests may suit a spindly, spider-like text.

You can try more than one font and even mix them up as you go along, having different fonts for different actions or characters. Just be sure that whatever you choose, it is ALWAYS legible.

Here are some great websites for sourcing fonts - and some of them are free!

www.dafont.com
www.1001fonts.com
www.fontsquirrel.com

DON'T plonk your font down anywhere and leave it there.


You must think about the placement of your text. It's a long process that will involve lots of edits and tweaking until you get it right, but a good designer will never get annoyed with trying out different placements. When you think you've got it right - try another placement just in case!

Is your text on the same page as an illustration? 
Which one do you want to see first - the words or the picture? 
Does the text get lost in the colours? 
It is in the same place every page? 

One thing is certain - you must be aware of bleed and trim. The text should never be too close the edge of a page. 

DO test with other people to see if they can read it.


This seems obvious, but it's hard to test your own book properly when you already know what it says. Ask friends, family and other writers to read it out in front of you. Do they read it in the correct order? Do they stumble on words or struggle to find the next sentence? As beautiful and your layout might look, if it isn't easy to read by your target audience you may as well bin it now.

DON'T be boring.


Black, Times New Roman in a white box... yawn! 

What about red text? Text with a pattern? Text with a texture? Now there's an idea. How about text that curves around the illustration it is describing? If your text is being shouted, why not place it inside a huge illustration of a mouth? Get creative and try different things - if it looks good and can be read easily then make it work WITH the illustration instead of leaving them to battle for space. I'm not saying you can't keep a neat, monochrome theme if that suits your book; just don't automatically default to it without at least thinking about your options. 




DO your research.


Look at as many popular children's books as you can, and see if you can find common themes they all have. Assess their typography, the size of the font, where they place it... these bestsellers must be onto something.

Don't be afraid to try some of their ideas yourself - use them for inspiration! (Just be careful not to plagiarise anyones work, of course.)

DON'T have too much text on a page.

This is a common error that new writers make. 500-800 words is the recommended average for a 32 page children's book and it's like that for a reason - it leaves just the amount of text on each page.  Filling a page with text leaves no room for illustration and makes it feel cramped. If you need to say more, consider moving text to an adjacent page or cutting out a less important sentence. It's tough to cut your story short, but it will benefit the book in the end.



DO have pages without any text at all.


Some clients are horrified when I suggest this. No text on page 13? But what will they do?! What will they read?! 

This is a great opportunity to break your book up and make your audience pay attention as long as you use it in the right place. (You may not have a right place for it in your book, and that's OK too!)

The best tip here is to use it as a build up or passage of time and let the illustrations to do the talking for you. A story about someone digging a hole to the other side of the world may leave three pages of nothing but illustrations of the character digging... getting lower and lower until they disappear entirely... The next page that includes text should then have a big action or reveal as the climax;

...SUPRISE! He's now in China!

This is where your illustrator's talents come in handy. When there is no text on a page, you need to give the reader plenty to look at. Hidden items, background characters and lots of detail will make this trick work.

DO create your own font


While I appreciate this is not something everyone is able to do, it may be something your illustrator could do for an extra fee. Creating your own font has many benefits; If you can't find one that looks right you can create one to fit perfectly. No other books will have the same font which makes yours unique. Not using easily recognised or default fonts means some readers (and publishers) will take you more seriously and know you have put the extra work in. 

Finally, here is a list of words and what they mean. They aren't 'Dos and Don'ts' - but they will certainly help you discuss what you need with your illustrator and be able to understand what they are saying to you! I hope you enjoyed reading my tips and tricks to making words work for you. Now get writing that next bestseller - and good luck!



SERIF - Fonts that have little details or accents to make the words easier to read. "This is an example of Serif"

SANS-SERIF - Font's that don't have the little details or accents. On computer monitors we are restricted to dots per inch and so the details and accents are not as easy to scale down or read.  "This is an example of Sans-Serif"

TYPOGRAPHY - The way type is arranged to achieve the desired effect

TYPEFACE - A kind of type. For example; Times New Roman

LINE SPACE (SINGLE, DOUBLE, ETC) - The amount of space between the lines of text







Monday 21 September 2015

Kittens, Asthma and new sketches!

I have to admit, I love my job. 

Working late into the night, eating dinner at my desk while I work and working weekends - it's all worth it to be doing what I love every day. 

Here's what I've been up to recently...


KIT KITTEN and the TOPSY-TURVY FEELINGS

    It was such a privilege to illustrate for Jane Evans for her book 'Kit Kitten and the Topsy-Turvy Feelings' and I felt as if I had learnt something new whilst doing so. Jane is a trauma parenting specialist and her books are not your average children's books, they are carefully written stories about parents who aren't always able to care, or children who come from homes with violence. Each book features questions, games, advice and suggestions that encourage the adults to listen and the kids to talk in a way that they feel safe and without pressure. Something that makes Jane's books unique and essential in so many ways.







When I received my copies of the book in the post, I was delighted to see they were of a very high quality and felt great to read. The pages were thick and glossy, and the hardback cover works wonders for little hands to hold. 

Jane is currently releasing her third book, 'Little Meerkat's Big Panic' which I am proud to have illustrated also. To find out more about Jane and her incredible work, you can visit her via;



You can order Jane's first two books through her publisher Jessica Kingsley or with Amazon.




I HAVE ASTHMA, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?




Wendy Chen's book was inspired by her own family, but is perfect for any child who might know someone with asthma. It's explains what happens during an asthma attack, how it is managed and how it can be part of a normal, active lifestyle. What a great idea!





You can find more about Wendy by visiting her website; www.wendychenbooks.com

And you can buy Wendy's book on Amazon.


SNEAK PEEKS...

I should really share more sketches of new projects with you, I absolutely love sketching and the process behind designing a new character. It's so fun! Here are some friendly faces you will be seeing more of soon!


  

NEW LOGO, NEW WEBSITE!

I've been busy re-vamping Izzy Bean Illustrations with a brand new logo, and a new website too! 
A lot of you loved the old logo and it got a lot of positive comments, but I felt it was time for a re-fresh and a change... plus I love the new logo a million times more! What do you think?


Thanks for looking, as always!


Thursday 28 May 2015

Author Interview - GRANDMA PAINT POT talks about her process, inspiration and hurdles!

Author Interview

Grandma Paint Pot






Grandma Paint Pot (named so by her Grandchildren) was born and raised in South Wales, but now resides in Cornwall which gives her the inspiration for her book series - 'The Sea Creatures'.


A keen writer, poet and outdoor walker; Grandma Paint Pot is a nature lover and this shows in her beautiful writing which features an array of adorable characters from a Selfish Shellfish to a Starfish with a missing leg! 




Thankyou for taking the time to talk to us, can you start by telling us more about yourself?

I’m a mother of three and a grandmother to four lovely grandchildren. I was born and raised in the Rhondda Valley, South Wales. Now, I live in Cornwall, in a caravan. I love to spend time out of doors walking the coastal path and feeling close to nature. I have two Border Terriers - Charles Dickens and Oscar Wilde - and in June will be having a Springer Spaniel puppy. She will be called Lizzie Lou after the heroine in the novel I am currently writing. I have a BA (hons) in Literature and an MA in Professional Writing.

Great names! How did you start writing for children?


I’ve written poetry since the age of thirteen or fourteen. When my children were quite young I started rewriting nursery rhymes such as: What was Humpty doing, sitting on the wall, he shouldn’t have been up there, it was obvious he’d fall... My children attended the Welsh school and had several cousins around the same age. I wrote my first children’s story for them. It was handwritten into a blue scrapbook in the Welsh Language and every character in the story was named after the children. I drew all the illustrations. I have since translated it into English and changed the names accordingly to suit newer, younger family members. I might use elements of it in a future publication.

Do you have a process you follow when writing?

Usually, a germ of an idea might take hold and I play around with it in my head for some time. With my publication The Selfish Shellfish, I was playing around with this title for a poem, focusing on the tongue twisting alliteration. I then thought I could make up some other sea creature characters. When I had several characters the idea grew into something bigger. In my head, each character had a voice.

            I don’t commit anything to paper until I’ve thought out the entire story. Then I write it up, and after that I type it on the computer. More often than not the word count is far too much and that’s when I begin to edit it down and structure it.

What or who gives you inspiration?

Nature is the most inspirational thing there is. I can look at the sea, a river, flowers, trees, the earth, the sky and never fail to be moved. I love watching the birds and animals and life in general. The world seems so simple and straight forward and breathtaking and mysterious. It is lifetime of study.

I admire so many writers but, in my eyes, Julia Donaldson is a children’s writing phenomenon. She creates beautiful characters, beautiful stories, empathetic scenarios and puts them together in verse.

Did you encounter any problems when releasing your books?

As a self-publishing author (as with any author, I suppose) I have to create interest in my book via social media. This is something that causes me a few problems. How to connect with the right people? How to reach people other than friends and family? How to pitch your posts and blog in such a way that will engage and draw interest without coming across as pushy, boring and completely self-indulgent?  

What was the BEST part of releasing your book?

The best part about releasing my books was (firstly) holding a physical copy and then seeing copies on the shelf in bookstores. It gives a wonderful sense of achievement. Also, it’s an amazing feeling when people come up to me and say: my child loves your book. When asked what book they want at bedtime they always want to read The Selfish Shellfish.

...and the worst?


The worst part is facing rejection from some booksellers. It’s tough to take when someone says they don’t want to stock your book - for whatever reason. Some places will order my book for a customer if they ask for it specifically but the chances of that happening is unlikely. As a new, independent author my book needs to be on display to stand any sort of chance in such a saturated market.

It sounds like you love doing what you do! 
What were your favourite books when you were a child?

I grew up in the world of Enid Blyton. I loved everything from Noddy and Big Ears, The Famous Five to Mr Meddles Muddles and Brer Rabbit. But, if I had to pick one book from my childhood, it would be Joanna Spyri’s Heidi. I always wanted to live on top of a mountain, sleep in a bed of straw, eat fresh bread and cheese and run wild all day. It was my kind of heaven.

Do you have a favourite place to write?

I love going somewhere to write rather than staying at home. Often, I write in The Falmouth Hotel. I order a pot of coffee, sit in the window overlooking Castle Beach and write the morning away. This is one of the reasons I set The Selfish Shellfish on Castle Beach and some wonderful illustrations of the Hotel feature in the book.
            I also like to write in cafes or libraries or anywhere I’m not distracted by thoughts of chores I should be attending to.

Finally... 'The big debate'; physical books or eBooks - which do you prefer?

I much prefer a physical book. I buy ebooks for convenience. They make ideal traveling companions and, as I live in a caravan, they don’t clutter up my cubby holes. My books are also available as ebooks for these very same reasons, and because I want to cater for the ebook market. But physical books are special. They are personal and intimate. In my opinion, a person - young or not so young - is more likely to flick back through the pages of a physical book time and time again to enjoy the feel and colour of the book and to linger over the words, and each time the book is revisited they will see and understand something different and gain a bigger picture. 

Thanks for sharing with us Grandma Paint Pot!



Grandma Paint Pot is currently launching her latest book; Stanley Penwellington and the Exploding Seagulls

Until then, you can check out her books below!

The Selfish Shellfish (ISBN 9781781322147) is £7.99 
The Selfish Shellfish ebook (ISBN 9781781322154) is £5.99
Leonard Limpet Lost at Sea (ISBN 9780993090707) is £7.99

Leonard Limpet Lost at Sea ebook (ISBN 9780993090714) is £5.99

Buy from...



Or on sale locally in Falmouth at;


Falmouth Bookseller
The Falmouth Hotel
The Maritime Museum
Cornish Maid, Mawnan Smith
Meudon Hotel, Mawnan Smith

The Kingsley Village
Seawitch Stores, Mousehole
The End of the Earth, Hayle

Visit Grandma Paint Pot and find out more!