VCD 49098: Senior Research Proposal
Project & Paper Proposal Form
Directions: This form is intended to simplify the proposal process by asking specific questions that are critical to a
successful project proposal. If there is other information that supplements the description of your project, you may
attach pages as needed. All written information must be typed or word-processed. Use complete sentences and
include each question. Please be as detailed as possible.
I. Subject or title:
Title: Reynard the Fox
Deliverables: An illustrated childrenʼs book (as well as a process book and research collection)
‐ Description: The project will be an illustrated childrenʼs book of rhymes from the out of copyright text “Aesop in Rhyme with Some Originals” by Jefferys Taylor.
o The original text includes a numerous amount of Aesopʼs original Fables composed in rhyme. My project will only be including four or five of the different rhymes. The rhymes I choose to illustrate are all based around the Fox (often referred to as Reynard) character.
2. Academic / educational goal of the paper or project:
What I will learn from this project is character development and visual storytelling. As an illustrator it is
important to get the audience to be involved with the subject matter and this involves creating interesting
and intriguing characters that a person will like to know more about. Visual storytelling is another
important tool, as the message to be given must be clearly and quickly understood. I need to better
enhance my skills at making the purpose of my work easily known.
3. How, specifically, does this project go beyond existing course projects?
This project goes beyond existing course projects in that I will be in charge of all the aspects of it myself,
attempting to utilize the full capacity of my creativity; from the idea of the project to its conception I need to
be able to pull off its success as a cohesive and professional work. The aspect of developing characters
should exemplify knowledge of social/audience expectations and interest. Though we have had illustration
projects with characters before, the projects were preconceived, made for a select purpose, and confined.
This project shall extend to what I can conceive individually and be an example of work that better
portrays what I would personally like to be involved with after graduation.
4. Research necessary for the project or paper. Describe any research completed: (surveys, interviews, publications,
etc.)
For my project I have looked into examples of the product I plan to make as my main deliverable and I
have listed helpful resources and examples I can reference in regards to what is needed for this project.
I have done plenty of research in regards to looking through several different out of copyright stories and
after reading each (at times more than once when they appeared to have potential) having to make sure I
can make it fit the confines of the senior project while still being interesting.
I have had to research former ideas, scrap former ideas, and research new ideas with more potential. I
have had to read through many different texts ("The Red Shoes," "The Ugly Duckling," "The Princess and
the Pea," "Poultry Meg's Family," "The White Snake," "The Seven Ravens," "The Six Swans," "The
Golden Bird," "The Pink," "Old Sultan," "The Wishing Table, the Gold Ass, and the Cudgel in the Sack,"
"The Tumbling," "The Golden Reed Pipe," "The Enchanted Stag," and "The Fair One with Golden Locks"
just to name a few of them) in order to find one what can be particularly interesting while still having a
certain level of potential. I also worked on educating myself about copyrighting in order to make sure I
would not infringe on any laws. I also looked into research on the target market of books with content
similar to what mine will have. I spent very long, hard hours in preparing for these proposals in order to
have a strong senior project. I do not think of this proposal/project light heartedly. I consider this to be
very important and treat it as such.
There are other things I am still going to research. I am continuing to look into both new and past forms of
illustrating as well as any other surveys that can be beneficial in determining appropriate methods of delivering/creating my material (whatʼs familiar and/or popular).Further questions I may discover while working will need to be answered appropriately whether through
help of faculty, online research, etc
5. PROJECT ONLY: Form of the project: Describe what the individual pieces would be: number of pieces, sizes,
colors, materials, techniques, quantity.
The number of pieces in the project will be three items. The childrenʼs book is the main focus. A process
book with a collection of my sketches and preliminary work showing my working process will also be
included. The third item will be a collection of my influences, inspiration, and references. The project
deliverables are:
‐ 1.) An illustrated childrenʼs book of a small collection of Aesopʼs Fables in rhyme
o Seven to fifteen pages of illustrations (dependent on an appropriate break up of the text)
Some of the illustrations will be single or double (a full spread) page in order to provide variation
The illustrations will range from simple motifs to full spreads (again appropriate to the break up of the text)
o The front and back cover of the book
The book will be approximately 8 inches wide by 10 inches tall (so a full spread would be 16 inches wide by 10 inches tall)
‐ 2.) A process book of my preliminary work
‐ 3.) A collection of my research
6. PROJECT ONLY: How will the final pieces be presented? (comped, printed, electronic, actual art, etc.)
The final pieces will be presented as physical (namely printed) items. The childrenʼs book will have printed illustrations. The childrenʼs book will have approximately seven to fifteen pages. The audience will be from young children (approximately three to eight years of age), to parental figures, child educators, and child caretakers. The age range included is focused on young children developing vocabulary and reading comprehension. Illustrated children books are namely for kids learning to understand basic language skills while keeping their concentration in being entertaining as a childʼs skills develop. Those involved with this age group (parents, grandparents, teachers, care-takers, etc.) are also important people to consider as they are the main figures of control to what the interest party (young children) may be exposed to. The text is focused on providing morals and so as the child learns word recognition, a paternal figure can help explain both the moral aspects as well as any vocabulary the child is beginning to become more knowledgeable about. The book can be used for the purpose of being read aloud or independent reading as children learn to sound aloud words (knowing the end words tend to rhyme with each other is a helpful factor in learning pronunciation of a word).
‐ To define a more specific audience targeting would be aiming for areas more prone to positive feelings towards animals (as the book includes mainly a personified fox). More rural areas towards children of families with backyards and more inclination toward household pets is a factor. Suburbs might also be included, but those of urban areas not as likely. Some begining research towards demographic surveys suggest that those of a rural upbringing have more of a positive attitude toward animals versus those of an urban upbringing. This also includes a higher aptitude for females than males to express positive attitudes towards animals. I am defining the audience through different levels. First, there is an age range suited for children who use children's books. Second, there is a specific regional location of rural areas because there is a study indicating that people in those areas are more prone to a positive attitude towards animals.
Since animals are a main focus of the text, a positive attitude towards animals was something I chose to be a factor in segmenting the audience (I inferred that the study was relevant because the story I chose was namely focused on a particular fox). Third, I targeted females because (again, through a found study) it has been implied that females have a more positive attitude towards animals than males. So with these, the most specific audience targeted are girls ranging between the ages of 3-8 years living in rural areas.
I included the fact that the book would also have to be appropriate for parental figures simply to cover my bases since they are generally the ones controlling what the target audience is exposed to and Aesopʼs Fables includes morals (the moral points are also included in the text after the fable) that paternal figures wish to instill in their children. The paternal figures are not considered the target audience, but they are
not to be ignored either.
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