This blog post was written by First Year Illustration
The “Once upon today” brief explores postmodern picture books; it takes a well known fairy tale and adapts it to critique a social or environmental issue. Each book has its own voice and incorporates fundamental postmodern ideas such as intertextuality, humour and texture.
Yennie Wong produced an incredibly tactile book, using a plethora of textures to provide drama to her reimagining of red riding hood. Red riding hood in this tale is a wolf slayer who takes no prisoners, resulting in some gruesome (and furry) double spreads.
Paulina Met grounds her tale about ocean pollution in the well known tale of the little mermaid. The book has a gorgeous gloomy colour palette which creates drama. The book uses postmodernism really well in its narrative and image and text compliment each other well.
Weiqing Liu reinvents the ugly duckling, criticising beauty standards and cosmetic surgery. The book is extremely tactile, with endearing duck characters. The book is exciting to flip through as each page provides a new textural experience with strong composition.
Kirsty Wade uses Cinderella to explore the poverty gap and the empowerment of women. The colour palette works well in creating a consistent atmosphere. Image and text is used well in the book, with characters being extremely emotive and thoughtful.
Georgia Smith also explores the tale of red riding hood but this time tackles the issue of climate change. The book is full of vibrant colour and dynamic composition with the double spreads often depicting a chaotic journey.
