GDES2014 – Children’s book design – Main brief part 5

GDES2014 – Children’s book design

WW1 recipe book – Researching children activity sheets

Part of the brief is to produce an activity sheet for children to complete, that ties into the theme of the spread and the book covers.

Puffin Books have a whole section of their website dedicated to children activity sheets, often based on the most well know characters like Willy Wonka or Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  Some of the activities include:

• Plan a birthday party, with invites and create your own Willy Wonka top hat.
• Wimpy kid – follow the lines to connect 2 items, spot the difference, suduko, colour in a kids shirt, how many words can you make from the phrase “Summer-Holiday”?
• Charlie & Lola – Design Lolas dress, colour in silly hats, snap.
• Others include colouring sheets, mazes, stickers, certificates, hidden objects etc.

http://www.puffin.co.uk

I like the idea of a certificate or award that the child can personalise.  I think an activity sheet with multiple things to do would be fun.

• Pull the pin from the egg grenade
• Make words from “Victory in the Kitchen”
• Something to do with carrots or vegetables
• Decorate your own egg etc
• Recognise the different nations by plane markings
• A mix of interesting facts and activities?

I found a number of examples of activity sheets that I like or could use in the creation of my own.

 

 

GDE2014 – Children’s Book Design – Main brief Part 3

GDE2014 – Childrens Book Design

WW1 recipe book brief – Further research

20th Century Design Movements – Timeline

1850-1914: Arts & Crafts Movement

1880-1910: Art Nouveau

1897-1905: Vienna Secession

Modernism

1907-1935: Deutscher Werkbund

1909-1930: Futurism

1916-1923: Dada

1917-1935: Constructivism

1917-1931: De Stijl

1919-1933: Bauhaus

Economic and Political Influences

The beginning of the twentieth century was fraught with radical political, social, cultural and economic changes. It was a revolutionary time. It was a time of major scientific and technological advances. Life was being forever changed by the invention of the automobile, aeroplane, motion pictures, radio and weapons (tanks, machine guns, chemical and biological warfare). Art Deco was a reaction to the rigours of World War I and was an attempt to develop a more positive and contemporary society.

Indeed the subject matter of a lot of Art Deco posters were designed to celebrate society’s progress in technology. The world wars had a significant impact on graphic design. Poster design during

World War 1 was highly influenced by political views and national pride. Propaganda was used to spread a message to the audience, as the war was the main focus of society.

The poster design sample in Figure 3.29 demonstrates the designer’s attempt to influence the audience by draping a woman in a flag and using provocative language to send a message to the viewers. The period between the world wars saw a society in disarray and economies in ruin.

 

Source – https://visscom.wordpress.com/2013/04/07/20th-century-design-movements/

I then further researched each of these movements individually to see if I could incorporate the design style into my design.  The movements that are of most interest to me from an aesthetic viewpoint are Modernism in general, Dada and Constructivism.  Constructivism lends itself particularly well to the time period as it featured heavily in propaganda of the time, most notable Russian.

Modernism

With the advances of technology Modernism began to break through at the end of the 19th century into the beginning to the 20th century. Western society began to develop new ways to shape human culture and improve the constructed environment.

Modernism covered many creative disciplines from design and art to influencing architecture, music and literature. The power of machines forced artists to strategically re-think their practice, the results were revolutionary and still influences designers to this very day. This new technology provided the opportunity for mass production, and the machine itself became a theme in modernism.

Influential designers of this period range from Walter Gropius from the Bauhaus to the modern architect Le Corbusier, both men were fascinated with all disciplines of design and it reflected greatly in their work.

Modernism is arguably being the most influential movement of the 20th century.

A beautiful poster celebrating the use of sans-serif typography and white space

Graphic Design and Typefaces

Modernism especially changed the thinking process for communications, graphic design and typography, the style of design shifted drastically from the prior 19th century approach. Before the concept of Modernism, graphic design and typography was ‘overly decorated’ and elaborate, every possible inch of a typical poster would be filled with imagery and type.

Designers of the era of Modernism abided to strict, structured grid system with emphasis on negative space, just as important was the use of clean sans-serif type. The idea was to create strong graphics that were against commercialism, greed and cheapness.

Typical typefaces used in the Modernism era include:

Franklin Gothic,

Monotype Grotesque, (cannot find free version)

Futura,

Helvetica Neue.

Dutch artist Theo van Doesburg practiced painting, architecture and poetry – he also influenced graphic design and is considered the ‘ambassador’ of the movement De Stijl. He described Modernism times as: “Art should not deal with the ‘useful’ or the ‘nice’, but with the ‘spiritual’ and the ‘sublime’. The purest art forms do not cause the decorative change of some detail from life, but the inner metamorphosis of life, the revaluation of all values.”

Source – http://www.creativebloq.com/graphic-design/easy-guide-design-movements-modernism-10134971

Jan Tschichold (1902 – 1974 ) was born in Leipzig, Germany. Tschichold moved to the center stage of graphic design as a major champion of the modern typographic style during its infancy. But it is his later work—which had moved on from the exclusive use of asymmetrical design and sans serif typefaces, to a classical approach—that caught the eye of Penguin founder Allen Lane during the late 1940s, leading to three years of Tschichold holding the creative reins of the infamous publishing house.

When Jan Tschichold designed his posters he widely expresses the avant-garde ideas of the or New Typography, which were strongly influenced by the Bauhaus.

Source – http://guity-novin.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/history-of-type-face.html#Eleven

Dada

The collage artists, Max Ernst, Man Ray and others taking the clue from Cubism were instrumental to the development of the movement called Dada. Dada was an early 20th-century international movement in art, literature, music, and film, repudiating and mocking artistic and social conventions and emphasizing the illogical and absurd. Dada was launched in Zurich in 1916 by Tristan Tzara and others, soon merging with a similar group in New York. It favored montage, collage, and the ready-made. Leading figures: Jean Arp, André Breton, Max Ernst, Man Ray, and Marcel Duchamp.

Constructivism

A movement with origins in Russia, Constructivism was primarily an art and architectural movement. It rejected the idea of art for arts’ sake and the traditional bourgeois class of society to which previous art had been catered. Instead it favored art as a practise directed towards social change or that would serve a social purpose. Developing after World War I, the movement sought to push people to rebuild society in a Utopian model rather than the one that had led to the war.

The term construction art was first coined by Kasmir Malevich in reference to the work of Aleksander Rodchenko. Graphic Design in the constructivism movement ranged from the production of product packaging to logos, posters, book covers and advertisements. Rodchenko’s graphic design works became an inspiration to many people in the western world including Jan Tschichold and the design motif of the constructivists is still borrowed, and stolen, from in much of graphic design today.

Source – http://www.designishistory.com/1920/constructivism/

De Stijl

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Dutch for The Style, Die Stijl was founded in 1917. The artists most recognized with the movement were the painters Theo van Doesburg, who was also a writer and a critic, and Piet Mondrian, along with the architect Gerrit Reitveld. The movement proposed ultimate simplicity and abstraction through which they could express a Utopian idea of harmony and order.

The harmony and order was established through a reduction of elements to pure geometric forms and primary colors. Die Stijl was also the name of a publication discussing the groups theories which was published by van Doesburg. The publication Die Stijl represents the most significant work of graphic design from the movement, but the ideas of reduction of form and color are major influences on the development of graphic design as well.

Source – http://www.designishistory.com/1920/de-stijl/

Futurism

Futurism was not only an art movement but also a social movement that developed in Italy in the early 20th century. Futurists were well versed and practiced in nearly every field of art including painting, ceramics, sculpture, graphic design, interior design, theater, film, literature, music and architecture. It was a movement that particularly despised not just certain aspects of classical antiquity, but everything that was not totally new.

The painters of Futurism were particularly successful but much of the ideas of the movement were generated through writing and several manifestos of futurism were published. They often broke light and color down into a series of dots or geometric forms through a process called divisionism. Futurism influenced many modern art movements of the 20th century which in turn influenced the development of graphic design. The writings, philosophies and aesthetic characteristics of futurism have been particularly influential to designers.

Source – http://www.designishistory.com/1850/futurism/

 

GDES2014 – Children’s Book Design – Brief part 2

GDES2014 – Children’s Book Design

Main Brief Research

Eggs & WW1

The National Egg Collection for the wounded was started in August 1915. Its patron was H.M. Queen Alexandra.It aimed at first to collect one million eggs for the wounded. The scheme proved to be very successful actually achieving an average of one million eggs a month. In February 1917 during a special “Children’s Week” 300,000 eggs were collected when the weather was very bad and eggs scarce.

By January 1918 the scheme had sent over seven million eggs to hospitals at home and over twenty five million to hospitals abroad.

Source – http://longstowe.ccan.co.uk/content/catalogue_item/ww1-national-egg-collection

Egg Grenades

WW1 German egg grenade

The ‘egg’ grenade (‘Eierhandgranate’) appeared in the beginning of 1917, as a complement to the other reglementary grenades that were either too heavy (Kugelhandgranate) or too cumersome (Stielhandgranate) for the assault sections. The small size steel cast body (6 cm long, 4.6 cm diameter), took the shape of an egg, therefore giving this grenade its nickname.

Initially entirely smooth, the body was modified in 1917 to receive a fragmented belt (‘Eierhandgranate Neuer Art’ – n/A) to improve its handling. Its size and weight allowed a long range hand launching (up to 50 meters) and as easy transportation in big quantities, even in the battledresses pockets.

Source – http://www.passioncompassion1418.com/decouvertes/english_grenades_all.html

As WWI progressed, there was a need for a smaller grenade, something more portable than the heavy Kugel and less cumbersome than stick types.

Development started in late 1916 which lead to the introduction of the cast iron “Egg” grenade, Mle.1917. It was loaded with black powder, or other explosive fillers. The average soldier could be expected to reach distances of over 40 meters, which meant the Eierhandgranate could be used in an offensive role as well as defensive.

Source – http://inert-ord.net/gerimp/eggs/index.html

How did children help the War Effort?

Between 1914 and 1918, everyone was expected to ‘do their bit’ to help with war work. Many British children were very keen to lend a hand. They wanted to support their fathers and older brothers who were away fighting at the Front.

Young people did many jobs. Around the home they would look after younger brothers and sisters. They helped with housework, carrying water and chopping firewood. They also joined long queues for food in the shops. Food was scarce because German U-Boats (submarines) were sinking the ships bringing supplies to Britain. ‘Growing your own’ became very important. Children helped dig and weed vegetable patches and worked in the fields at harvest time.

Flag Days

‘Flag days’ were held to make money for all kinds of wartime projects. Children would sell little flags or badges that people could pin to their coats. This raised money for funding the war effort, for example to build warships, or to help wounded soldiers. There was even a Blue Cross fund to help horses hurt in battle.

Children collected other things that would be useful for the war effort, such as blankets, books and magazines. These were sent to the soldiers at the front.

Animals at war

Even animals were given war work to do. Horses were sent into battle to carry soldiers, or drag wagons and big guns to the front. Homing pigeons carried paper messages, put into little tubes and strapped to their legs. Dogs guarded important places, carried messages and took first aid supplies out to wounded soldiers on the battlefield.

On the Home Front, elephants were taken out of zoos and sent to pull heavy loads on farms.

Source – http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/0/ww1/25307613

Evacuation

It seems from my research that evacuation did not take place in large numbers during WW1.  I suspect this due mainly to the fact that although the zeppelins caused a threat and later, the biplane bombers, the numbers were too few to cause the concern that was so apparent during WW2.  The main threat was also focused in the capital.

It would appear that many families took children away from London to places that were safe from bombing threat, but often this was off their own back as opposed to due to government led evacuation.

 Evacuation Plans

In preparation for the war, evacuation plans were put into consideration to avoid possible danger on children. Primary children, toddlers under five and moms were evacuated from predicted danger zones to safer areas. 4 million evacuees were expected to leave, however only 1.5 million left, yet it was still considered a mass migration of many immigrants. Kids held their labeled luggage, waved good-byes to their families and plodded into the unknown.

Source – https://sites.google.com/site/worldwar1class1/life-on-the-home-front/children-during-ww1

Rationing and World War One

Rationing was introduced into Britain at the tail end of World War One – in February 1918. Rationing was introduced in response to an effective U-boat campaign and during World War One, the Defence of the Realm Act (DORA) was used to ensure that food shortages never occurred.

One of the primary aims of DORA, when it was first introduced, was to prevent food shortages. At the start of the war, food shortages were self-imposed as the German U-boat campaign had yet to start. However, at the start of the war people went around panic buying food and hoarding it at home. Some shops sold out of food in days in August 1914. However, after the initial panic buying, people settled down into a routine and food was not a problem until the end of 1916.

Britain continued to import food during the war. The main exporters to Britain were America and Canada. This meant that merchant ships had to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Up to 1916, these merchant ships could travel in relative safety. However, in 1917, the Germans introduced unrestricted submarine warfare and merchant ships were sunk with great frequency. This had a drastic impact on Britain’s food supply and with great losses in the Atlantic, food had to be rationed so that no-one starved in Britain. In April 1916, Britain only had six weeks of wheat left and bread was a staple part of most diets. 1916 was a bleak year for families – with the news from the Battle of the Somme and with food in short supply, suddenly the war was brought home to most families. Food prices rose and by October 1916, coal was in such short supply that it was rationed by the number of rooms a family had in its house.

The restrictions introduced by DORA failed and the government then tried to introduce a voluntary code of rationing whereby people limited themselves to what they should eat. The standard was set by the Royal Family. However, this did not work. Those who worked in the munitions factories did not have enough food while anyone with money could get more than enough food on the black market. Any area that could grow food was converted to do so – gardens were turned into allotments and chickens etc. were kept in back gardens.

The powers introduced by DORA empowered the government to take over land when it felt that it was necessary to do so. In 1917, the government took over 2.5 million acres of land for farming. By the end of the war, Britain had an extra three million acres of farming land. Those who would have usually worked the land – young men – had been called up, so the work was done by the Women’s Land Army. Conscientious objectors also worked on the land.

Despite the importance of the work done by the Women’s Land Army, the government still felt that it was appropriate to warn them about the standards expected of them and their approach must have seemed very old fashioned to some:

“You are doing a man’s work and so you are dressed rather like a man; but remember that because you wear a smock and trousers you should take care to behave like an English girl who expects chivalry and respect from everyone she meets

Despite the work by the WLA, the impact of the German U-boat campaign made food shortages a serious problem by 1918. Malnutrition was seen in poor communities and as a result the government introduced rationing in 1918. Food products were added to the list as the year progressed. In January 1918, sugar was rationed and by the end of April meat, butter, cheese and margarine were added to the list of rationed food. Ration cards were issued and everyone had to register with a butcher and grocer. Rationing was a clear indication to the British public that all was not well, but it did work. The malnutrition that had been identified in the poorer communities disappeared and as in World War Two, no one actually starved in Britain during the war.

Source – http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/rationing_and_world_war_one.htm