Why are illustrations important?
For this project, I decided to take an illustrative approach. The biggest reason for this is that it is an app aimed at children. Illustrations provide context that can help children understand a narrative and setting better. They are also visually appealing and will keep them engaged. This is especially important in an educational app as it prevents them from becoming bored.
Learning about the periodic table elements can be quite complex so again, illustrations make this easier. I had clickable illustrations of bubbles, treasure chests, etc. Research has shown that visuals like illustrations make it easier for children to recall information.
My illustrations
I knew that I wanted to have a main character that users would associate with the app. Having an interesting character also makes it more fun and engaging. This led to the idea of illustrating an octopus.
I began by gaining some inspiration:
I liked that these were bright and colourful and had happy faces. It was now time to create my own. This was my first draft:
I then decided to improve it so I made some changes:
I decided to take away the black stroke as it was too harsh. This has been changed to dark purple. I also illustrated two test tubes for him to hold. This ties in with the science theme. I feel that a character like this could make children excited to learn about science. This character is placed throughout the app to make it more engaging.
It was then time to create more illustrations for the rest of the app. Below is a mood board for inspiration for fish, plants, background imagery, clickable objects, etc.
Below you can see my illustrations. I tried to make them bright, colourful, and interesting to look at to keep the users engaged.
Overall, I am happy with how my illustrations turned out. I think they go well with the theme and tone of voice of the app, and they do their job of keeping users engaged. I also enjoyed learning more about illustrating and improving my skills.