Sometimes, I Play Alone is an illustrated picture book for children that tells the story of a young Indian introvert navigating her day – from the mundane to the extraordinary, she cherishes her own company and finds joy in being alone.
Created in February and August '21 as part of a graduating thesis project, this book aims to represent and celebrate introversion in children, a trait that is often misunderstood and overlooked.
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Process
The process for making the book spanned 6 months in total, and was part of an assigned brief called "Picture Book: Inside & Outside" which required us to create an illustrated picture book for children, thematically representing any topic that connects to the childhood experience.
1 / Research + Concept Development
The research and concept development was the first 3 months of the project. Due to the pandemic, parts of this process was done online; this included secondary research about childhood, introversion and visual culture, referencing picture books, and speaking to various educators, illustrators, and writers.
The research led to mapping and categorising any insights which gave way to choosing my theme (growing up introverted) and proposing a picture book within that theme.
A major part of the development process was also looking at my own childhood and how my experience of growing up introverted impacted my day-to-day. Looking at pictures from also aided in building an Indian visual context I wanted to place my story in.
2 / Visual Explorations
The visual explorations were done using Azafran organic block crayons, the medium I was illustrating the book with. During this process, I explored how the crayons act alongside a variety of papers and visuals.
3 / Development of the Book
The development of the book involved exploring the themes of introversion alongside building the visual language of the book, which included developing the character in the book, how they look, and what they might be like. It also included writing a narrative and subsequently creating a storyboard of the story.
The final illustrations were created referencing the storyboard. They were digitally compiled and edited on Adobe Illustrator where they were placed in the layout alongside the text. [The typefaces used were Clarendon and Objektiv Mk2.]
4 / Production of the Book
After a round of test prints, the book was printed at Knowledge Stationers in Mumbai.
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thank you!
