Teaching Illustration & Poster Design
Earlier this year I was approached by Chapel Bridge School to help 2 additional needs classes with an illustrative poster project for 3 sessions. The aim was to produce a piece of work which focused on a different environmental impact that humans have on the planet, nature or on the animal kingdom.
In addition, I taught the pupils about what I do as a creative and helped try to empower them in the project to produce something they could be proud of and which followed key design principles in there most basic forms.
Session one focused on what was illustration and was followed up by two fun exercises of doodling and drawing animals using only basic shapes. In this presentation I dispensed 3 of my favourite mantras, with the aim of inspiring the pupils to go forth and do their thing confidently. They are as follows:
1. Love the marks you make
First of all you CAN draw. Your drawing style is just a personal as you handwriting or signature. Embrace it and don’t get hung up on comparing yourself to others. Embrace you.
2. Try different tools
Want a different style? Try a different pencil, brush or pen. Experimentation is always so important.
3. There are no rules
Play, play, play... and play some more. There are no right or wrong ways of doing things. Just let your imagination flow and have fun.
Session two focused on the world of environmental poster design and how to lay out key elements. I suggested keeping it simple and only including a big heading, an illustration and a small call to action, explaining how the most effective posters are simple, eye-catching and impactful. After my short presentation we then got down to thumbnailing some ideas where I suggested that the pupils first and foremost focus on what they want to say and the effect it has on the planet and animal kingdom. I did this primarily for the pupils to have focus in their design and to help keep things really simple.
My thumbnails :)
Session three was the day the pupils got their hands dirty and created their posters. Firstly I presented for them a poster I designed and showed them step by step how I did it. From thumbnail, to mapping out the rough and then colour and finally black lines.
The final session was amazing to say the least and the pupils were really engaged. Whether they were creating their final design on tablets or huge canvases they, for the most part, they understood and followed the process. In any case, whether they followed or not it didn’t matter… there was good energy in the classrooms and I helped guide them and bring their vision to life.
Teaching illustration and poster design was an amazing experience and I certainly hope the pupils got something rewarding out of it to take forward to future projects and in their own creativity outside the walls of the classroom.