The Factory Guide

Trying out styles for the character - This is done by painting waste packaging material and adding its characteristics as vectors and textures. 

Looking at the central character which will act as a common thread through the manual stressing on the element of storytelling

 

A mood board of styles and visual characteristics of the Guide

Introduction on the Production Manual

Ive begun planning out and thumbnailing the introduction to the production manual. Some important aspects of the manual are decided here :

How the Manual is to be used 

The status of the child as a part of the factory

The character (mascot) that leads the story

The relevance of Re-using junk in this day and age

Planning out the Manual

Putting together the parts / sequencing / narrative flow / format / gimmicks(?)

Testing Instructions

I am now looking at trying out illustration styles and handing them out to children to see their response as well as their ability to follow the instructions without a facilitator.Here are some styles Ive been trying out and will hand out to parents and teachers to pass on to the children. I will also be handing out a questionnaire to the parents / teachers to judge their response as well as the response of the child to the instructions, toys and style.

 

The Product : fixing the Loopholes

Going back to the larger vision of the project in order to fix the loopholes :  

 VISION
Getting children to create their own toys and play environments using everyday junk that is easily available to them at no cost. Helping them attribute character and story to the toys as well as understanding the inherent science in the structure of the toys. 

 the PRODUCT now
A bank of toys and structures which is the basis for creating characters and environments in which these characters interact.
A manual which has templates / instructions / tear outs / stickers etc which help children make the 3-D toys (characters and structures)
A mat which provides a base on which the entire constructed environment can be placed and interacted with. 

The Product : beginnings of

I began with looking at adding a narrative to instructions to add another layer to them and creating an environment to play with the toy after the child had made it.

Idea 1 :
Creating a book which would tell the story of a sequence of toys and characters who would be the props that the child constructs while they read the story. A linear narrative which tells the story of the creator of the toy factory who found a new life in everyday junk and used it to build the factory and invent lots of new toys.
Idea 2 :
Creating a series of mats which provide a base on which the toys can be played with. The mats create the environment. They have 3-D elements like pop-up buildings / trees etc. The mats could be attached with pull out instructions which help you make the toy. There would be a series of mats which could be tiled to build a story.

Loop Holes :
-The come-back value to a linear narrative. The motivation to make these toys again and again.
-The environment of the toy simply being provided and not improvised upon by the child in any manner.
-The toy being used only as a prop not bringing out the true essence of the toy – No understanding of the science or freedom/role in building the character of the toy.
-No particular push to use the junk itself. Only a subtle motivation to use junk through the underlying story. -Difficulty in sequencing toys to relate to each other to create the entire narrative. Limitation in the toys.
-The mats would create a further problem of sequencing the story for the child. Interaction steps would be increased in a confusing manner.

Styles and Prototypes

PROTOTYPING

Idea for sample spread















































Attempting pop-ups











































Looking at STYLE

Styles : Collage / Vector / Hand drawn / Mixes





























Environments created through illustration.































The character in the book interacting with it in order to build the story.