Picture Book Project

Assignment Four

introduced: Tuesday, March 26
due Tuesday, April 16

Self Commentary |Submission Directions | Resources

Using Photoshop, create a picture book of at least 10, and not more than 25, pages telling a story with geometrical shapes (a la Molly Bang) and words.

Because you're producing a "picture book," the story should be told primarily with the images, and any words you include should be supplemental. (In an "illustrated book," on the other hand, the words carry the story or argument and the pictures play just a supporting role.) Also make a cover for your book.

You may choose any story, and any kind of story, you wish (an autobiographical experience, a popular tale, the "plot" of a poem, song, short story, or any non-visual original), though it should be a story you can tell effectively in the number of pages you have. The book does not have to be for children.

Here are some principles to consider in creating your picture book (many of these are explained more fully on pages 42-80 of Molly Bang's Picture This).

be sure you're telling a story with the images alone (though it may not be the story you're able to tell when you add the words).
make the first and last pictures/pages of the book similar, to suggest a full circle and a sense of a change
take care that the turning of the pages follows natural breaks and rhythms of the story
use kinds of shapes (horizontal, vertical, diagonal) to evoke emotion, tone, effect
place objects high or low on a page for emotional effect, be aware of how balance and weight can create or dissipate tension.
choose the "framing" of the scene (in the middle, near the edges) to direct attention, suggest or evoke emotion, create tension
select background images and color (dark, light, warm, cool) for effect
pay attention to the shape of object and characters (pointed vs. rounded/curves) to suggest emotions attached to them
use colors to suggest important associations in the story (we tend mentally to connect by color rather than by shape)
make contrasts to create tension or direct attention
size and frame objects and characters for intentional effects that help the story and its mood
be conscious of the visual vantage point used to see the scene and how it suggests a relationship between the reader and the characters
use space and arrangement to direct attention, suggest relationships, set the mood and tone
build verbal and visual symbolism in the story (objects and characters that accumulate meaning through repetition) to suggest meaning, and
use cultural coding (conventionalized symbols like the flag)
make a cover that represents the story well, and that attracts the intended audience

Self Commentary

As always, you'll write a self commentary, which will discuss design and process issues raised by the project, including technical, rhetorical and creative choices you made and techniques you employed.

Submission Directions for the Picture Book project

Option 1: Posting Your Picture Book to the Web.

If you are interested in posting your picture book to the Web, rather than printing it out, please post it by the beginning of class on Tuesday, April 16 at 11 a.m. Post a message with the URL and your name to the Discussion board, in the discussion area called "URLs of Picture Books."

Here is a basic template that you can use to layout your pages. This is just for your convenience. If you want to use your own layout page, please feel free. To download this template,

browse to the sampe page with Netscape and then choose File > Edit Page. Netscape will then open the page in the Composer.
In the composer window, choose File > Save As to save the template and sample images to a folder on your disk.
To use the template, replace the images, the text, the page title and the page numbers and then save the file under a different name to preserve your template.

When you're creating your images in Photoshop, be sure always to save your original versions in the Photoshop format (.psd) as well as producing a a Web-ready version (probably .gif) to post on the server. To create the Web-ready versions in Photoshop, open your .psd version of the image and then...

choose File > Save for Web,
choose the "GIF" option from the drop-down menu under "settings,"
select "4-Up" from the tabs at the top of the Photoshop window
look at the four versions displayed and pick the smallest file size (see the numbers in the bottom left of each panel) that still looks good to you.
click okay, and save to your disk with the file name you want.

Option 2: Printing Your Picture Book

For color printing from Photoshop, follow these directions from Jason Davis, ITSS Computer Lab Coordinator (726-8782):

Students can choose the "color Printer" from the printer setup on any full access PC (including CCTR 42 PCs). Once they have printed the job, it will sit in the color print Queue until they walk down to any of the color printers to rlease it. Color printers are located in the Library Lobby, SBE 17, and MonH 239. They will find their print job listed on the queue at any of these printers.

Resources for the Picture Book project