Testing QR Codes

Once I'd created all the QR codes, we knew we had to test them. To do so, we downloaded two third-party barcode readers (one Android and one Apple) and tested where it lead us. You can see a video of this below...

After we'd confirmed that the codes worked correctly, I started inputting them into the pages. Due to what I learnt in my research about QR conventions and rules, I picked the positioning, size and background of the codes very carefully. You can see a video of us testing a code on our most complex background below...

QR Codes

I spent a good few hours creating the QR codes necessary for our site. I had to go between two different sites, as the first decided to stop working on certain URLs. Below, you can see all of our QR codes collected...

Intro:

Egyptian:

Middle Ages:

Impressionism:

Cubism:

Surrealism:

Modern:

Finale:

Cover and Masthead Initial Ideas

One of the most important parts of a comic is the cover. This is what potentially convinces someone to read a book or not. This week I started having a bit of a play around with cover and masthead/logo ideas, based around some of Katy's artwork.

Here were the first few variations I came up with...

While I do quite like the balance of some of these designs, I think with a background as complex as the one Katy and I have chosen, things get lost very easily. To try to combat this, I added a red shadow and drew a yellow bubble around that. This worked for the main text, but the subtitle still got lost. You can see in the second two options that I tried to work around this by adding some yellow airbrush behind it, but still, it didn't work perfectly.

QR Code Requirements

Now we're in the position to insert the QR codes into our book, we needed to see the conventions and rules of using QR. With the codes being within the art, we don't want them looking too stark and ugly against the nice background. So I did a little research (casually referenced in the 'Useful Links' post)...

Rules of Using a QR Codes:-
- Colours can be changed up, as long at the colour of the code is dramatically darker than the background.
- Colours don't have to be consistent - can be a gradient.
- Smallest a QR code can be readable by an app is about 1cm x 1cm.
- Most QR code readers can handle up to 30% of a code being damaged or blurred.

An example of an edited QR code:

App Building - SUCCESS!

I went back to appypie after my flawed attempt before and powered through all the awkwardness of the builder to muddle something basic together. Also, had to ignore the limited font selection and just choose Comic Sans (despite hating this font and thinking it's overused, I do appreciate that it's probably okay to use it on something so kid-orientated).

For this, I had to mess with one of Katy's drawings to make a basic background.

Once I had a a few based made, I spent a couple of hours editing colours, fonts, styles and content.

These are the final pages I managed to compile. There were a few elements that weren't editable for some reason (like the font of the main page content)...

App Building - Exploring More Options (More Failed Attempts)

I decided the only way to truly know if I was going to get along will an app building client would be to try it out. So this is what I did for a few options...

AppShed:-
- For educational purposes
- Can be paid for to remove ads from app
- Just... Doesn't work. There's literally no clear way to make it work

AppsBar:-
- Quite easy to use
- Just doesn't offer the options I need

Mobincube:-

- Definitely the easiest to use.

- Some really nice options for templates

- Just didn't have what I needed

This was really far less useful than I thought it would be, and I'm sort of stuck now. Because of this, I'm just going to take some time to go through the options and try again...

App Building - Failed Attempt Through AppyPie

From my research earlier on in the project, I have been lead to try app building through 'appypie'. This is because it's free, fairly basic and includes possibility for a QR scanner. I will test this now and see how it goes.

Fifteen minutes into testing this site, I was forced to give up. Not only was it really user unfriendly (a lot of the colour pickers and selection tools didn't work), but it also kept giving stress-inducing countdowns to upgrade to a better (paid) version.

Website Building - Test

Once I moved onto Wix, I quickly caught back up to my current progress on Weebly...

I next had a fiddle with the navigation bar to make it more noticeable and kid-friendly. Despite editing the text to be larger, it was still quite hard to read, as the links were now too close together. To combat this, I inserted little line shapes and moved them between each link.

At this point I checked the preview to find I had some issues with the background image scrolling with the page, so spent some time rectifying this. I then began work on the other pages. This was also the point where I upload a gif, to test how the animations would work (it worked out really well)...

I also thought it would be important to create a contact page. This was a challenge, as it involved creating a contact form which was impossibly awkward to edit in a way that made it's style cohesive with the rest of the site. I also focused on language and communication style here - how I wanted our audience to read our voices, as creators. Due to the fact our audience is quite young, I made it very conversational and fun!

After this, it was just a case of fiddling with the drop down menu under 'Animations' to make it more user friendly and attractive (which I unfortunately couldn't screenshot, due to the nature of drop downs), and now the site is ready to go live for a test run...

From now, the site will be live at... maxiegeemail.wixsite.com/mawgo

Website Building - Failed Attempt

I decided to throw together a basic website idea to present to Katy for a reference of how her artwork would be presented. The process is shown below...

Firstly, I chose a basic template, and altered the text (just to test it was a good template for the job). I specifically chose a 'portfolio'-defined template, as I know we want the website to be as visual as possible...

I then went through each of the pages, changing titles and SEO settings (what the URL for the page is, what the title for that page come up in the browser tab)...

Unfortunately, at this point, Weebly showed it couldn't handle the size of the images needed to upload. Due to this, I will have to try with Wix, which could be good, as it's a site I've already used. This is a shame, however, as I was really enjoying working through Weebly.

Web Hosting Options

Due to the fact we're going to be using small animations in our comic (that are accessed via QR code), we need somewhere to host these digital pieces. My main idea is to have a nicely decorated website, full of animations on separate pages. Readers will be lead to these pages when they scan QR or bar codes in the physical book. Because the animations are only small and just for readers, the site itself doesn't need to be too extravagant or have an easy-to-find URL (as if it was too easy to find, people could access the animations without buying the comic).

I used a recommendation site (see 'Useful Links') to find possible web building and hosting sites to use...

WEEBLY
- Free basic builder.
- Professional starting bases.
- Pay for better tools.
- [sitename].weebly.com
- Extensive and modern options.

UCRAFT
- Lots of options.
- $6 a month.
- Modern.
- Block based.
- Poorly reviewed.

SITE123
- Free basic builder.
- Very clear and easy.
- Pay for better tools.
- Quite new, so not many reviews.

WIX
- Free basic builder.
- Extensive starting bases.
- Pay for better tools.
- [sitename].wixsite.com
- an look quite unoriginal and dated.

From this research, I decided to go with Weebly, as this was a cheap option (finances being a difficult issue for us, as we have to print the comic and potentially pay for app hosting too), nas well as having an exciting, modern style too most of it's options, and also having good reviews across the web.

Title Ideas

Despite the panel enjoying our working title ('Time Travelling Cats') was popular with our panel, who recommended we keep it, we later found out this name was already in this.

This, to me, was a huge problem, as one of the most important parts of a comic for me is the title and cover as these things are sometimes what dictates whether someone will bother reading a book or not. Because of this, Katy and I spent hours trying to pull something together.

First of all, we had to consider the main themes of our comic. For this, we found:-
- Art
- Cats
- Time/History

I found that there were two kinds of titles that were currently popular with younger audiences, these were:-
- One word, usually a verb. (eg. Tangled, Frozen, Brave - very popular with kids movies. Catchy and fun.)
- Overly long and comically detailed titles. (very popular online in meme culture. Funny and stupid. Very memorable. Gets people invested as they already know half the story.)

From here, we searched the internet for different words to include (some of the sites used are referenced in the 'Useful Links' post). We also thought it might be cool to have a short title, with a longer, drawn out subtitle. Here are a few ideas this research lead to...

GORD AND THE CAT THAT BROKE THE SPACE TIME CONTINUUM

GORD MAKES AN OBLIVIOUS FRIEND

TWO CATS EXPLORE THE SPACE-TIME CONTINUUM

TWO CATS VS THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF ARTISTIC EXPRESSION

DRAW PAWS!

SPLAT CATS!

A SPLATTER THROUGH TIME

ARTED.
(subtitle)

PURRFECTLY PAINTED
(subtitle)

MY ART WILL GO ON
(subtitle)

TIL DEATH DO US ART
(subtitle)

CAT’S ALL, FOLKS
(subtitle)

SPEED PAINTING
(subtitle)

We decided it would definitely like to use a shorter title, with a longer subtitle, and we agreed one of the longer titles would look good as subtitles and specifically chose the "TWO CATS VS THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF ARTISTIC EXPRESSION" line for this bit.

We narrowed down the short titles to three:-

- ARTED.

- MY ART WILL GO ON

- SPEED PAINTING

We had a discussion from here, testing out how each of the whole titles would sound out-loud. We also considered the sense of humour our audience have, and how to amuse them! From here, we settled on our new title...

MY ART WILL GO ON

TWO CATS VS THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF ARTISTIC EXPRESSION

Pages 18 & 19: Research/Understanding of Modern Art Diversity

I feel that Katy and I don't particularly have a need to research for our modern art pages, as we've grown up around the sort of conventions of modern art and the diversity of it! This double page spread is also less important, accuracy-wise, as it's more for the progression of the story and has very little educational value.

We decided it would be cool to include a PC screen that the cats were looking into, as this communicates the significance of the internet to modern art. I also wanted to focus on how accessible and diverse the art world is now, so want to include lots of different 'windows' on the screen with different art pieces.

Page 17: Street Art Research

Key Points in Political Street Art:-
- Separated only vaguely from graffiti.
- Usually illegal, unless pre-agreed with land owner.
- Very commonly politically motivated.
- Berlin, New York, Lisbon, Melbourne.
- Numerous different types - including things like 'Yarn Bombing'.
- Banksy.

Page 16: Pop Art Research

Key Points of Pop Art:-
- Popular in the late 50's and through the 60's.
- Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein.
- Britain and the USA.
- Simple, bold images in bright colours.
- Mainly use primary colours: yellow, red, blue.
- Works into pop culture - comics and everyday life.

(All sites used in this research will be casually referenced in the 'Useful Links' post.)

Page 15: Dada and Surrealism Research

Key Points is Dada and Surrealism:-
- Focused on the unconscious and dreams.
- Sigmund Freud's research - ideas of sexuality and fixations, and perversions.
- Abstract vs Figurative.
- Dada = WWI in Zurich.
- Theory that enlightenment quashed the power of the subconscious.
- Marcel Duchamp.
- Salvador Dali.
- Urinals, performance art, melted clocks and apples.

(All sites used in this research will be casually referenced in the 'Useful Links' post.)

Page 14: Futurism/Cubism Research

Key Points in Futurism/Cubism:-
- Rejected old, cultural ideals.
- Speed, energy, power of the machine.
- Early 1900's.
- Picasso.
- Cubist or similar but with more movement.
- Italy and Germany-centric.
- Long lines and shapely.

(All sites used in this research will be casually referenced in the 'Useful Links' post.)

Pages 12 & 13: Impressionism Research

Key features of Impressionism:-
- Sort of splodge-y.
- Small, thin, but visible brush strokes.
- Very good, accurate use of lighting.
- Very open compositions.
- Initially confined to Europe, then the States.
- Went against certain rules.
- Was the first time things really moved away from religion.
- Mainly Parisian artists.
- 1860-1900.
- Contrasts with Post-Impressionism.

(All sites used in this research will be casually referenced in the useful links post.)

Page Order Changes: Taking Professional Criticism

When approaching the Renaissance pages, I was struck by the comments of the industry panel. We were told to be very considerate of how our page counts for each era worked, and how the layouts looked, to make sure the book doesn't get predictable and dull.

Because of this, I realised there was more I could do to make a double page spread of Renaissance work interesting than I could for Romanticism (which was in the original plan). I decided then, to dedicate the double page spread to Renaissance instead, to shake up the predictable layouts a bit.

I hope this will make the book more compelling and engaging - something that is crucial for younger audiences, like ours, as they are easily distracted or bored.

Pages 10 & 11: Neo-Classical/Romanticism Research

Key Points of Neo-Classicism:-
- Shows man in a more realistic, and less idealistic way.
- Generally a bit darker.
- Everything is heavier and more realistic.
- Again, very much recreating Greek and Roman art.
- Very busy scenes.
- Mid-18th century to early-19th century. 1750-1820.

Key Points of Romanticism:-
- Started at the end of the 18th century. Peaked approx. 1800-1850.
- More magically and spiritually themed.
- Slightly less realistic, as it works into the more mystical.
- Very emotive and dreamy.

(All sites used in this research will be casually referenced in the 'Useful Links' post.)

Pages 8 & 9: Renaissance Research

Key points of Renaissance era art:-
- Revival of Greek and Roman art style.
- Emphasis on illusionary painting techniques to add depth - lighting, foreshortening, background.
- Realism in portraiture.
- Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli, Donatello.
- 1,300-1,600.
- Europe, especially Italy.
- High Renaissance - 1495-1520.
- High focus on nature, and a very idealistic view of people.
- Means rebirth.
- Shows Greek deities.

(All sites used in this research will be casually referenced in the 'Useful Links' post.)

Pages 6 & 7: Middle Ages Research

Key points of Middle Ages/Medieval art:-
- Generally muted colours in early work.
- Very religion based, as this was the only way to communicate narrative at the time. Similarly, includes a lot of battles and royalty related scenes.
- Artists of this era were commonly priests and monks.
- 300AD to 1,400AD.
- Split into Byzantine, Romanesque and Gothic.
- Specifically European.
- Included Illuminated Manuscripts.

(All sites used in this research will be casually referenced in the 'Useful Links' post.)

Pages 4 & 5: Egyptian Art Research

Ancient Egypt:-
- Highly stylised and symbolic.
- Also created on rock (walls of homes, pyramids, tombs, etc.), but also on papyrus.
- Very sequential and story-based.
- Many depictions of sphinxes and cats.
- Very centred of the gods of the era, and other powerful figures like Pharaohs and kings.
- Hieroglyphics used to communicate words and story.
- Statues were also important.
- Used to honour the Gods. So usually covered the walls in tombs to ensure the dead crossed over safely.
- 3,000BC-ish.

(All sites used for this research will be casually referenced in the 'Useful Links' post.)

Pages 2 & 3: Cave Painting Research

To make sure our readers get the most out of our book, I will be collecting research of each time period before I produce the pages. I will look into conventions of style and technique (partly to include in the dialogue, and partly to help Katy with communicating the style in her art), as well content of the art of that time, and specific artists to make reference to.

Cave Paintings:-
- Obviously, set on rock backgrounds (red rock is common for African and South American cave art, and paler, greyer rock in European cave art).
- Generally depict great hunts. The relationships between humans and animals.
- Rock Art of the Iberian Mediterranean Basin might be a good reference to use (about 15,000BC).
- Very basic and line/shape based.
- Generally coloured in red or brown.
- Animals are shown in the 'flying gallop' pose, which is typical of the late Palaeolithic. This is a very specific type of running pose that makes the figures look as if they're flying.

All research is collected from sites that will be casually referenced in the 'Useful Links' post.

Page 1: Discussions with Artist

As stated at the start of my script, I wanted to give Katy some freedom with how she adapted my script. Issues with the script are to be discussed and rectified to make the book as professional and as entertaining as possible. Below, I have included a screenshot to show parts of our discussions to develop the page.

I think both of us are learning the perfect way to work together and make our styles work together as efficiently and effectively as possible. After noting the alterations Katy made to my script plan, I compared the two versions to find the type of thing Katy preferred to draw/animate. I found my initial script page was a lot less dynamic than I would've liked. Because of this, I decided to focus on this element of my next few pages - making the panel styles more diverse and have them communicate more movement.

Page 1: Completed Script

Today I finished the first part of my script (aimed with the research I gained yesterday). So far, I'm fairly happy with how I'm doing so far, and seem to be avoiding the old mistakes that I identified in yesterday's post.

I also decided to included a small colour coded (rainbow order; red = panel one, orange = panel two, etc.) panel guide for each page to help communicate my layout ideas to Katy as clearly as possible. As well as this, I chose to include a clear note at the start of the script that made it very clear that I was more than happy to receive Katy's input as an artist to improve and alter the script where needed if it didn't fit with her own creative vision.

NOTE: The misspelling of 'discretion' was fixed after this pdf was exported.

Perfecting My Writing Style for Script Writing

Though I have writing fiction for many years, I've only very occasionally written a script. Also, every script I have written in the past has been for personal use. So, while it was useful practice, it wasn't to valuable in the context of writing for an artist, as I knew what my own vision for each page was. With Katy working on art instead of myself, I have to ensure that my script is as in-depth as possible.

To make sure I was as prepared as possible for this, I decided to do some research. I initially used some of my notes from my second year lectures with Claire Smith (including a guest lecture from another practising comic writer and editor). This included looking through my old script-writing work, without the image of what I was going for fresh in my mind. This really helped to point out where the gaps in my description was. Reading my old work, and combining it with my lecture notes, I realised that I regularly missed to mention movements the characters were making, and seemed to be thinking of each character in a way that was far too static.

This would be a huge problem when writing any script for an artist, as it leaves them uniformed of the body language that the character have, and could also lead to the characters always seemingly just standing around, which can be boring for a reader. However, this would be even more detrimental in our comic, as we have some animated panels. Movement is absolutely crucial to ensure that we utilise our ability to include animation as much as possible.

I also looked into some webpages' recommendations, but a lot were very screenplay script specific. This meant that there was a fairly large amount of information I had to disregard. Still, I found these pages (that you can access through my 'Useful Links' post) helped me really get to know the conventions of a script and how it should be laid out and communicated.