SB2 - STUDY TASK - INDUSTRY RESEARCH

Within the creative industries, I have placed my current practice within the children’s publishing industry. For the focus of 504, this strand will enable me to further my awareness of the socio-cultural issues surrounding children’s illustration practice and the contextual concerns raised by the industry. Carrying out research into the current publishing industry, I have identified the role of retailers, illustrators and cultural institutions in the creation and distribution of children’s books.

From this collaborative research task, I learnt of the financial and social status around the current children’s publishing industry and how these determine the success of illustrators and the trends they may adhere to. My contribution focused more on the value of children’s publishing beyond the physical book, researching retailers and studios that encourage workshops and more tangible and interactive activities stemming from children’s books. Anorak is particularly interesting to me as the business model not only encompasses a publication, but celebrates the work of its contributors and its readers through workshops and travelling bookshops. In my emerging practice, I am keen to push this idea of the book as a device or vehicle for further learning and play. Independent retailers such as Salts Mill, use murals and displays to extend characters and narrative beyond the pages of the books. This engagement with audience encourages the value of reading and the pleasure of books, much greater than on plain shelves organised in alphabetical order.

Further research identified that there appears to be a resurgence or prominence of handmade type in the current publishing climate. This resonates with the wider value of analogue media that is celebrated so highly at the moment. Handmade type within books seems to achieve a much more personal and human quality and I wonder whether hand lettering can encourage more imagination and creativity in children if they see the hand of the maker in the books they read.