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02.February.2010

Children’s Book Publishing 101 Continued

Remember that other post (scroll down) about the Children’s Book World I’m so interested in? Well, this is another test illustration. This is actually the first one, with modifications I just did.

Test Illustration Two

Test Illustration Two. Focusing on digital, clean, bright. Detail inset.

If you could see the whole thing, it would show you a balloon-type object floating off into the sky, which is part of the story. This is not a finished illustration but the general gist of it is here.

There are SO MANY children’s book illustrators that are incredibly talented.  Just like children’s book authors.  The market is so thoroughly saturated that, if it were a color it would be a dripping black. The deepest black imaginable. Viscous.

The reason so many amateur writers keep coming back after getting rejection letter after rejection letter, is that writing children’s stories is fun. Really fun. And illustrating them is fun as well. I suppose we’re suckers for torture… I myself have yet to submit to the slush pile, so I’m jealous of others who have been rejected.

28.January.2010

On Branding a City

Branding a city is somewhat similar to branding a company – the goal of which is to build the business by bringing in more clients and therefore more money, which equals more employees, etc.  But a CITY. A place where people live, recreate, start families, love, play fetch with their dogs.

Usually the primary goal is to uplift the community by bringing in more people, more businesses and therefore more jobs.  More people means more money coming in that can be used for city improvements such as general mobility, public services, even simple things like planting more trees along roads. Elevate the quality of life.

Below is my condensed version of this important process:

In order to get people interested in living in or visiting a community, you must start with the individuals involved and/or living in the community already. The city should host a series of focus groups, by invitation only, with the intention of creating specific goals for different areas of commerce, government, etc. The city should also host open forums, where the public has a chance to voice opinions, be it good or bad, regarding general goings-on in the city. A consultant hired specifically for focus groups or the like is a typical path to take and will have a set list of questions and goals directly related to this project.

The firm or company hired for the branding work should be given ALL opinions from forums, the list of goals from prominent members of the community and any other documents, thoughts or ideas pertaining to the community at large. The firm and city must also establish the decision-makers for the span of the project(s). This is very important to clarify, especially when on a tight or restricted timeline. Decide who is involved and stick to that decision.

Beyond the initial gathering of information, the branding process is basically the same. Research, research, research. Logo development and testing. Presentation (to the selected decision-makers) and so forth. Once the logo and tagline have been chosen any and all material associated with the city must be changed or redesigned to accommodate and support the new style. During this time the Branding Guideline is created and distributed.

If the firm is also building the marketing strategy for the new brand, the work would begin at the same time as the branding. This may require a different focus group for a new set of goals.

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To me, bringing out the best of a city by highlighting recreational activities, livability, citizenship, neighborhoods and more, is one of the best creative challenges I could ask for.  Also, helping a community become stronger is a great thing.

27.January.2010

Children’s Book Publishing 101

This site is not solely going to be about the design profession. It’s to be about the creative things I do and what I learn (and can pass on) from doing them, be it branding a company or sketching for my clothing line.

Test illustration for bee story one

Test illustration for bee story one. Focusing on a vintage feel.

 

That said, I’m delving into a new industry and am writing some children’s stories, along with illustrating them. I’m trying not to get too attached to the illustration part, as if the need arises I may have to ditch them in order to get published.

I have three in the works because I am continually editing (and also because I come up with ideas that I have to jot down lest I forget them). I’m trying to write a page turner. If the story isn’t intriguing or exciting enough, why turn the page? Why buy it for that matter?

Because there is a rather large learning curve, I’ve gotten a few books on the subject of publishing. Two are:  “How to Be Your Own Literary Agent” by Richard Curtis, and the 2010 version of “Children’s Writer’s and Illustrator’s Market” edited by Alice Pope.  Both are enlightening to say the least. I recommend them for people who are wanting to break in to the children’s book market or don’t have an agent already secured <– one more challenging aspect of the industry. Another invaluable resource for me has been Editorial Anonymous, a blog written by a children’s book editor.

I’ve become a member of SCBWI, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. They do a fantastic job with providing important and interesting information for all levels of writers and illustrators. I’m looking forward to attending the next Austin chapter meeting.

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My stories always have animals in them. Two have a bee and a mouse, and one has a chicken.  All of them also have a situation or problem that must be resolved, and the way to resolution has been with something inventive. Literally. Fun and inspirational. The image featured above is a test illustration for my first bee story. One of about three so far.

It’s been exciting working on projects that are not within my chosen profession. For me, being creative and coming up with clever ideas renews, refreshes and enlivens. And makes me happy.

Hopefully in the next couple of months I’ll have a finished product that I can send off to a few select publishers for consideration, thrown into the dreaded slush pile…

13.January.2010

Since this is an official (re)launch…

…I thought I’d start out with a look back. Back to 1997, the year I landed in Austin, got a very crappy job, drove to the Travis County Clerk’s office, filled out and signed a DBA, and paid the state its 26$ to register my business.

Insert several years of working full time and still doing my own thing. Sometimes I thought that it wasn’t worth the exhaustion and stress, having essentially two full time jobs, but it was. Really. We all work hard, right? Whatever the circumstance. Long lists that are checked off every day.

Then in 2006 I quit my Creative Director position and started doing Mediaville. Just Mediaville.

Anyway, the point to this is visual communication. And Mediaville has told some whopping stories since 1997. I’m going to show you where my brain was at every time I changed up my own brand, edited of course. Ah, memories!

Mediaville circa 1998-2009

Upper left: 1998 | Upper right: 2001 | Lower left: 2004-2009 | Lower right: 2009

The lower right came about because I wanted a logo I can say truly represents me – I’m not exactly a perfect sans serif font.  Remove the vintage poster feel and here we are.

Creating and maintaining a brand is a challenging and exciting process. For me, the process lasted 13 years. For my clients, it’s much shorter.