Exercise: Educational strip

I chose to make my leaflet for girls as I have personal experience, although puberty can start as young as 8 years so I think the brief is slightly inaccurate in stating that the leaflet should be aimed at young teens.

Technical research:

http://sisters.natracare.com/p921/en-GB/Your-Body-Puberty/5-Stages-of-Puberty.aspx

http://www.female-puberty.com/5StagesOfPuberty.html

http://kidshealth.org/kid/grow/body_stuff/puberty.html

http://www.cafemom.com/group/727/forums/read/12752145/All_About_the_5_Stages_of_Puberty_for_Girls

Tanner stages

Stage 1:

Breasts - no development

Pubic Hair - no development

Growth - 2.0 to 2.4 inches per year (all growth numbers are averages) 

Other - ovaries growing

Stage 2:

Breasts - breast buds

Pubic Hair - starts with a few lightly colored hairs  

Growth - 2.8 to 3.2 inches per year

Other - clitoris and uterus growing

Stage 3:

Breasts - breast mounds (tissue grows beyond areola without contour separation)

Pubic Hair - spreads, darkens, and curls

Growth - about 3.2 inches per year

Other - underarm hair begins growing and acne

Stage 4:

Breasts - breasts feature a projection of areola and papilla forms a secondary mound

Pubic Hair - adult-like (very little change between 4 and 5)

Growth - 2.8 inches per year

Other - first menstrual period

Stage 5:

Breasts - adult breast contour (projection of papilla only)

Pubic Hair - adult pubic hair

Growth - complete / no additional growth in height

Acne

Bra

Period

Hair

Emotions

Hormones

Ideas

Seaside amusement board

Beach

Visual research

Teenage fashion trends https://www.google.com/search?q=teenage+girl+fashion+trends+2013&rlz=1C1AVSA_enES462&espv=210&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=nrKAUoj_HaHX0QXxkID4Cw&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1600&bih=785#imgdii=_

Teen mags for girls

http://www.allyoucanread.com/top-10-teen-magazines/

Kiki http://kikimag.com/dept/fts/fromTheStudio.php#.UoC-9HAjLSg

Sketchbook

Characterisation

I wanted the character to express the confusion and self-consciousness felt during puberty, as well as a bit of excitement

Hands and feet

I couldn't find the foot pose I wanted on the web so I asked someone to take a photo of mine

Thumbnails

Text layout iterations in photoshop for eventual tracing

Leaflet layout

Based on this one

Line visuals for cover

Traced and scanned into photoshop, line work cut out and cleaned up

Colouring

I wanted the leaflet cover to be brightly coloured and feminine but not too pale pink girly

I then experimented with textures on the towel and background, and with making a pattern of the ‘icons’ in the background to emphasize the many changes occurring 

In the end I preferred the version with flat colours as they appear brighter without texture and the image is easier to read

Experiments with background colour

Then I experimented with adding colour and texture to the motifs and text with the tiny splatter airbrush in Corel Painter 12 and to the background by manipulating the colour and saturation of this photo of cracked paving

I think the combination of colours in this version is very effective and reduces the influence of the 'pink cliche'.

Now I just need to copy the textured motifs onto the left side

I will use the same textured background for the inside pages of the leaflet for continuity

Some other educational leaflets

 Brainstorming and thumbnails for the inside pages

I based the figure on this drawing I found on the internet

 I used the free transform tool in photoshop to reduce the exaggerated height and then printed it out and used it as a template for my figure

 I scanned the drawings into photoshop, cut out the line work and applied the coloured background

I then experimented with inverting the line work and adding blocks of darker colour to improve the contrast. I also removed stage 5 at this point as it is pretty much identical to stage 4

Looking at them alongside the cover image I think the dark line version on the lighter background is stylistically more fitting and is also easier to read.

Here are the client visual for the interior pages with text and extra effects added in photoshop and Corel Painter 12

Learning points

• This was a complex project with many components
• I think my cover image works well and it's apparent that I enjoyed making this image more than the interior pages
• I tried to achieve continuity with the inside pages by using a similar figure, the same motifs and background and one of the same fonts as the cover
• The interior pages cover the basics with minimal text, although I don't think I managed to incorporate much metaphor or humour the hand drawn look gives it a sense of informality
• I chose to use stages rather than ages so as not to exclude those people who reach puberty outside the average age range
• I forgot the uterus!

Here is the updated leaflet with all the pages together