Responsive - Papyrus

Papyrus Brief

We were briefed on a small live brief this morning set by Papyrus, a charity that helps with suicide in young people. Immediately, I was interested in undertaking this brief as I haven't yet taken part in one that is for a real world cause. A lot of the time, within briefs at university I often have my own design interests in mind when choosing the purpose or message behind my designs. This brief is a lot different to that way of thinking as it is for a real world cause and its main aim is to make a difference and help prevent young suicide.

The fact that the brief is for a suicide charity does make the project a lot more meaningful but at the same time it will inevitably put people off taking on such a brief as it is a very sensitive subject. 

As well as making things look nice, it is also important to take on briefs that have other people in mind, especially those in need. This is also my first work for a charity and is something I aim to do more of in the future along side other types of briefs.

I rarely take on illustrative briefs and so this is anther reason why I chose to take this one on. I feel it is important to exercise a whole range of different skills and techniques whilst I have the freedom and pick and choose briefs.

Research

Another difference between this brief and previous ones is that it is a much smaller brief and one that can be done in a short period of time. Despite the deadline being at the end of the month, I set myself the task of completing it on one day to see what I could achieve in such a short amount of time.

For research, I read through the charity website to get a good idea of their beliefs and aims and purpose. From this I wrote down some key points and quotes that would then influence my designs.

- Exist to give young people HOPE and to prevent suicide

- "we draw from the experience of many who have been touched personally by young suicide across the UK and speak on their behalf in our campaigns and in our endeavours to save young lives"

- Society which speaks openly about suicide and has the resources to help young people who may have suicidal thoughts

- shattering the stigma around suicide 

- 'SILENCE', the biggest killer in young people in the UK

Production

The first stage was to create a mood board of imagery and type that could feature within my illustration.

I looked at imagery and type associated with with the word hope as this was the word that stood out to me the most when reading the charity website. I then also looked at illustrated papyrus plant relating to the charity themselves.I did this so that my illustration would show a clear link between HOPE and the charity themselves as this is something they aim to provide young people that may be having suicidal thoughts.

As the image would have to include some details for colouring in, I had to design each element to suit this. I started by sketching out a few possible images including a papyrus plant and a dove.

The next task was to then draw them digitally into illustrator and then edit them further.

Between these two digital sketches of the plant, the one below was more suitable for the brief as it would be more rewarding to colour in due to the patterns and shapes.

I took this opportunity to use a technique I haven't used before. This involved a digital sketch pad. Using this device was difficult at first but once I had the hang of it, it allowed me to accurately translate my sketches from pen to screen.

Below, I have introduced type to make obvious the message behind the illustration. However, it would not be suitable for a colouring book.

Drawing out a simple dove shape then gave me the idea to put a papyrus plant in the doves mouth to convey my intended message.

Developing on from the simple dove shape above, as the illustration is intended for an adult colouring book, I looked into the styles used in existing colouring books. I realised that the illustration needs to have loads of different sections that the user can colour in to keep them engaged and give a sense of achievement when finished.

I chose a more exciting dove shape and then carefully edited and filled it in with various shapes and patterns. I then added the papyrus plant in the mouth of the dove.

I was happy with the shape and patterns of the dove but the brief specifies it has to be an A3 spread and so the design needed some other features.

To add to the illustration I decided to create sort of a narrative. The bird on the left has found itself a papyrus plant, similar to young people finding the charity when in need.

The papyrus plant is enlarged and is a focal point of the illustration to signify the importance of the charity, however the dove is larger as the young people who come to the charity are even more important.

The dove in the background is yet to utilise Papyrus, however after watching the other dove it will follow suit.

Geometry 

In the previous idea, I focused on words found on the charity website. However, the brief specifies that I illustrate something that I myself find calming. So for my second response I will be looking at geometry.

When brainstorming about what makes me feel calm, the first thing that came to my head was Cleanliness and Tidiness. From there, I got to geometric shapes as these tend to me very organised and clean looking.

The idea is to design a geometric colouring illustration informed by my idea of calm. Below are some examples of how colour can be implemented (in this case, by the user).

Informed by the use of doves as a sign of hope in my previous response, i decided to combine that with the geometric technique shown above...

I then made a repeated pattern with it so that it would make more of a colouring.

The pattern above was successful however I don't think its suitable for a colouring in book as it is not complicated enough for adults.

The thing that makes me feel calm in life is tidiness. Below is an illustration of a desk space that is neat and tidy. Looking at a tidy desk makes me feel calm as well as the clean lines of the drawing itself. The other aspect that is calming would be when colouring this in, it isn't too complex and so would be easy to complete.