To Kill A Mockingbird: Alternative Perspective and Visual Solution

After feeling completely fed up and deflated about the work I have produced so far on this brief, I had an unexpected inspirational spark yesterday during an ambassador shift to do with world book day. 

Two groups of year 7/8 came in to participate in a world book day creative workshop involving the production of a 16 page mini-concertina book that summarises their favourite novel through the use of words and images.

Some examples of the childrens' work: they are SO GOOD!!!

The contents of the publication could include:

• Front cover
• Back cover/blurb
• Character description
• Quotes from the book
• Illustrated scenes

When I assist with leading workshops, a lot of the time I find it really useful to join in with the group; both for encouragement and because its nice to feel like a big kid again! But in all seriousness, I do produce some of my best work when I know it isn't being assessed. So I took the opportunity to create a mini concertina for To Kill a Mockingbird:

(I didn't quite have time to finish the whole thing)

This exercise helped me to get out of the loop of perfectionism and allowed me to have fun experimenting from an alternative viewpoint...which is something that I haven't managed to grasp yet within my creative process.

Later that evening, I was still full of enthusiasm and jotted down a load of new ideas with the help of the workshop. Thinking of avoiding the obvious, I decided to take things from a more personal perspective, and start with my favourite quote from the book:

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point 

of view-until you climb into his skin and walk around in it"

Rough sketches based on this quote:

The concept here is based on Scout's understanding of the things that she questions, particularly to do with her fathers' relationship with the accused Tom Robinson under the theme of social inequality. The term "stepping into someone else's shoes" reflects the empathetic reasoning that exists within the quote above, therefore the shoes of Tom Robinson and Scout illustrate this concept with the inclusion of footsteps (mocking bird footprints) and the red dusty road of Maycomb.

So without further ado...here is the final design:

This brief has certainly allowed me to become more open to interpretation of how I approach and overcome creative struggles, and has made me realise that I am perhaps more resilient than I thought I was. I am very happy with the outcome of the cover, as I feel it demonstrates how my work has developed in terms of experimentation with materials and a more thorough and considered understanding of the concepts behind the visuals. I would be confident enough to put this in my portfolio!