Illustrated Book

I have gone with the illustrated book idea which is based on my cousin Pyrs. I have done allot of research on autism and each case is different. I spent the weekend at Pyrs's house and learned a great deal about how he copes with the condition. We are a close family, but living away for the past 4years means I havn't had that much contact with him, and spending time with him and his Mum was lovely in some ways but quite upsetting in another. Pyrs is such a happy child and has a wonderful life but at the same time autism is stopping him from doing things that I take for granted.
The book is not going to be a documentation about autism but a story which illustrates Pyrs's life and as autism is a huge part of how he lives on a day to day basis I have chosen to pick out certain autistic traits to illustrate.
Autistic Traits:
Hypersensitivity to sounds and certain colours.
Sounds are amplified and he gets very distressed in public places, he especially hates roadworks and electronic machinary.

" People everywhere, talking, wearing bright colours. The talking is like the pounding of horses hooves. The bright colours are blinding, the talking hurts my ears, the bright colours hurt my eyes"

(Quote taken from The National Autistic Society, Parant Book by Jane Shelds.)

Single Attention Span:
Pyrs becomes absorbed by one thing or object and he devotes his full attention to it. Its as if every one around him is transparent or don't exist. He becomes so absorbed that he doesn't respond even if you shout his name. A typical object would be a spinning coin or ball.

Obsessions:
Pyrs has a couple of odd obsessions at the moment but they do change quite regulary. His current obsession is with toothbrushes, he has loads of them. The toothbrushes are of the same style and brand but do vary in coloure. He likes them lined up in his playroom. He wouldn't accept any other style or brand of toothbrush as its not the same, it has to be the same.

Medication
Pyrs has to take prescribed medication on a daily basis which aids the condition.
Routine and Communication
Pyrs hasn't got a fixed routine as it would make the familys life difficult if there was a change.
His Mum communicates with a visual timetable which illustrates whats going to happen now and next. Pyrs must know whats going to happen next so he doesn't become distressed.

I am also going to illustrate his interests and hobbies.

Here's one of my illustrations for the book.
Hypersensitivity To Sound

Three Responses To The D&AD Briefs

Three ideas and responses to the brief:
1) Illustrated book about my cousin Pyrs.
Pyrs is a 6yr old boy who has autism and struggles with social communication, social integration and social imagination. people with autism have said that the world to them is a mass of people, places and events which they struggle to make sense of. Pyrs thinks in pictures, meaning that he communicates mainly with visual timetables, he needs constant reassurance of what is gong to happen next. Pyrs has many autistic traits such as obsessions with odd things and objects, and is frightened of bizarre things like raisons and carkeys. Autism a side, Pyrs is a very happy child and has lots of hobby's like any other child his age.
My intention for the illustrated book is not a documentation about autism, its going to be a story about my cousin who happens to have the condition.
Im not intending to make a dramatic sob story which highlights the devastation caused by autism, Im going to try and get an understanding of how he copes with everyday things. focusing on his like, dislikes, fears and obsessions etc.

2) Illustrated book about myself
A series of illustrations which focus on my fears and anxiety's, childhood and future aspirations.
Place my self in another time and place, how would I fit into society?

3)Create a character based on my autistic cousin Pyrs.

• Single attention - becomes absorbed by one thing and devotes his full attention to it.
• Routine - character repeats a routine over and over again, then the routine is broken. What happens?
• Sensory sensitivity
• Personality traits and quirks - Curiosity, clumsy, obsessive, fanatical,
• Create a character inspired by one of Pyrs's toys.

I have discussed my ideas with the tutors and I have decided to go with my first idea of creating an illustrated book about my cousin Pyrs.

D&AD

I have looked at the briefs for the D&AD awards and a couple of them are quite open for personal experimentation and I feel that these are the breifs I would like to look at closer.
The two briefs which appealed to me are:

HSI London - Create a character then portray its personality through animation.

Davisystems - Produce an illustrated book about yourself or someone else.

Both briefs involve the creation of an existing or fictional character who's personality is illustrated in a book or brought to life using animation methods.

Its half way through the final year at Uni and I feel that I need to create something which demonstrates my abillitites, and shows personal experimentation. The two briefs are quite open and this is my reason for shortlisting them.

Time to update

Been a while since my last post , so I better update and write about what ive been up to over the past three weeks.
Berlin/Transmediale
Berlin was amazing I really enjoyed the trip, the week was jammed with things to do every day. Transmediale was interesting, at the time I wasn't sure about some of the stuff that was being shown as I didn't realise that the festival would be so theory based with mainly seminars and was expecting to see alot more installations and art pieces. But since coming away from Berlin I am beginning to really appreciate Transmediale alot more. The festival was held in a lovely building in the centre of Berlin and there was a really nice relaxed atmosphere at the festivel. And some of the stuff I saw was very interesting and there were a couple of videos that I found inspiring.
Berlin itself was a beautiful place, I was shocked at the sheer scale of the city. I saw fanatastic sights but I would have liked to have seen alot more, I would definatley like to go back sometime in the near future.