Digital Graphic Narrative Planning

Use this booklet to help structure your planning and collate your planning documents.

Considerations:
There are lots of things to consider in this project. Fill out each section in detail to show you have thought about each one. You
should imagine that this is a live project, so considerations like cost, quantity and codes of practice must be thought about in that
context rather than just as a college project.
Costs:
For my childrens book I will be working mostly on the computers, which will not cost any money. However, I
will be doing a few illustrations that will then be recreated digitally, this will cost money. For paper it will only
cost a few pence, but the pencils will cost around 5, possibly more for some high quality pencils. If I were to
print 200 books, it would cost around 2.02 however if I were to print 1,000-1,500 books, it would cost 1.57.
Available resources:
To create backgrounds and characters I will need source images to rotoscope over, I have access to the
internet and a computer to acquire these images. Some of my backgrounds will be drawn and then digitally
recreated, for this I will need access to a scanner, drawing equipment (pens, pencil, ruler, rubber). To fully
produce the book I will need access to Photoshop to digitally create all the illustrations and piece together the
book.

Quantity:
My book will be a traditional paperback to be sold in bookshops, so around 2,000 copies will need to be
printed and sent to bookstores. I will be producing a limited print run of special edition books that will be in
hardback and these will be sent to libraries and schools, I will print around 200 of these.

Audience and Target Market:

My product is for children aged 3 to 7/8; I feel this is appropriate for this age group because of the language
and the presence of colourful, bright images. Also the book will appeal to parents because the book is child
friendly and enjoyable for their child. Also I dont have a target gender because I feel my book will appeal to
both male and female audiences. My target class will be working class because the book wont be expensive
and will appeal to parents because its inexpensive. It will be sold to English speaking countries but will also
be translated into African languages and sold there because the book is based on an African folk tale.
Quality Factors:
To make sure my work is as high quality as possible I will need to consider certain factors to ensure this. One
factor is to consider file management, make sure I make back-ups of my work and save regularly so no data is
lost. Try and keep motivated and concentrated at all times to ensure my work is not lacking in quality.
Feedback from peers could help improve quality of my work and allow me to make improvements. Also I will
need to manage my time correctly by making a plan and sticking to my product plan.
Codes of Practice:
The publisher must give the author a period of time, which is in the contract, and if the author fails to produce
a completed manuscript the publisher may be entitled to a refund. The publisher should be, at any point,
willing to explain the terms of the contract and make them clear to the author if misunderstood. The work
produced by the author must be produced in high quality and good faith. If the work is not to its highest quality
and produced with good care, the publisher has the rights to reclaim the advance.

Regulation:
My book does not fall under the definition of a toy so the Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC does not apply to
my work. However I will need to ensure that my book abides by The Obscene Publications Act and Equality
Act 2010 to ensure that none of my content could be deemed offensive to a certain group of people.

Copyright:
My story is an old African folk tale, which may be copyrighted by the publishers so I will need to get
permission to use their story and share profits I make with them. I have used some source images as the
basis for my backgrounds and characters (although I have drawn some) but they are not very similar to the
source image. However if one of my rotoscoped images is very similar to the source image I will need to get
permission from the creator to use it.

Ethical Issues:
My story includes a lot of African culture because it is an old Nigerian folk tale. This means I will have to
ensure my work is not offensive to the Nigerian culture and not incorrect either. Also my book is being sold in
parts of Africa so it will mean that my content will need to be relatable for them and include African culture
heavily. It will have to be highly respectable and not include any common stereotypes that could be insulting
towards Nigerians or anyone.

Resources:
A successful project relies on good planning. Considering all the resources you will need for a project and then assessing which
you already have and which you need will help ensure you are ready to start your project.
If there is a resource you dont currently have, then consider how you are going to get it before you go in to production.
Resource:

Do you have
it?

What do you need to do to get it?

Photoshop

Yes

The college computers have Photoshop installed onto them, I

also have Photoshop on my computer at home.

Paper/Sketchbook

Yes

Pencils/Colouring pencils

Yes

Scanner

Yes

Production Schedule:
Delivering your project on time is vital. In order to do this, you need a solid plan of action. This will help you divide up your work in
to manageable chunks to be tackled one at a time. It will also allow you to plan which tasks need to be done in which order. It will
also allow you to track your progress each day. If you are falling behind, you will need to modify the way you work. If you work
faster than expected, you can clearly see what the next steps you need to take are.
Each session is a half day of college.
Session 1:

Begin creating page one.

Gather source images of a rustic castle and drum to rotoscope over the existing images to create a
background for page one.

Then add in the lion in his robe with the drum placed in front of him. Add in the glow around the drum.

Add in the kings scythe or staff and text.

Session 2:
If not finished page one, complete any existing parts of the page.

Begin creating page 3.

Find two source images of the interior of a castle and throne to begin creating the background for the
page.

Add textures/patterns to the wall or floor. Possibly African prints or aboriginal prints.
Session 3:

Add in the king and the tortoise pointing.

Finish up final details for the page by adding shadows and shading/lighting.

Begin creating page 4 by finding source images of a cheetah and some food.

Session 4:
Rotoscope the backgrounds which will be African patterns relating to the emotion of the character.

Add in the cheetah, tortoise and food.

Finish up page 4 and add in text/patterns.

Session 5:

Begin finding images of a twig and forest for page 5 and positioning them.

Create the background of African patterns and add in the drum with a red glow around it.

Add the tortoise stepping over the twig in the corner.

Session 6:
Finish up page 5 and add in the text.

Begin creating page 6.

Rotoscope the magical tree with a glow around it.

Session 7:

Add patterns to the bark and add fruit to the floor.

Add in the tortoises gorging on the food.

Session 8:
Begin creating page 7.

Find source images of a house and rotoscope this for the background
Add in the tortoise family and add text.

Session 9:

Begin creating page 8.

Create background from source images of the tree and river.

Add in a heartbroken tortoise. There will be a heart broken in the corner.

Session 10:
Finish up final details on page 8.

Go back and review all pages and check to see if they are of good quality.
Correct any mistakes and compare to original plan.

Add in any other details that may be needed to achieve a higher grade

Health and safety:

Your health and safety and that of those around you is very important. Just like in industry, an accident could prevent you from
working. Whilst we dont work in a highly dangerous environment, there are still risks. Some are short term, such as trips and
spillages whilst others, such as long term damage to eyesight or back problems, may affect you much later in life.
Consider the risks based on the activities you will be undertaking during the project. Explain how you could prevent them from
happening.
Ensure you reference appropriate pieces of legislation, design to protect people at work.

Health and Safety Issue

How can you prevent it?

Eyesight.

Make sure you are sitting with correct posture in your

chair and make sure you are not hunching at all.
Take regular breaks if sitting at the computer for long
periods of time. Dont sit too close to the screen. Make
sure the chair is the correct high and the screen
brightness is suited to you. Adjust your focus point every
so often. This is according to the Digital Display Screen
Act.

Trip hazards.

Make sure bags and cables are tucked away and not in a
place where people can trip over and injure themselves.
This is according to the Health And Safety at Work Act.

Back pain.