An Experimental Illustration Practice for Preschool Children's Books, from Character Design to Book Design

The effect of children's books on the development of imagination is a prominent feature. For this reason, the creative person visualizing the children's books is expected to first catch the world of interest of child and then design new worlds by using his own unique language of expression. Thus, he or she will make a significant contribution to the expansion of the child's horizon. Unlike adults, the child is not yet trapped in the limits of various perception. This clean point of view gives rise to an unlimited and free creation space for illustrator. In the field of art and design, it is very common for the creative person who uses this freedom to show a unique personality beyond ordinary. However, bringing a new or different perspective will be created by the experimental attitude of the illustrator. In order to create a new world from a text, firstly designing characters can be considered a practical way. The visual identity that emerged with elements such as form, color, movement and gesture of a character will then continue with the adaptation of the environment of that character. In other words, an environmental construct designed in harmony with the character will be the original visual identity of the book. This is the case study of Marmara University Fine Arts Faculty Graphic Department Children's Books Illustrations course on this creating an original identity in the field of children's book illustrations, to be experimental and to design characters as a starting point. The applied project includes two basic stages: The first stage is the creation of a three-dimensional model for an animal. The second stage is to do illustration based on the creation of a three-dimensional animal model and designing an original children's book