Dilemma Dissolved

July 1, 2017 | Autor: Shubhshree Mathur | Categoria: Children's Literature, Children, Children's Book Illustration
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Descrição do Produto

DILEMMA DISSOLVED?
The brief for the research, required to illustrate hindi nursery rhymes for a rhymes book to be sold in the NRI market.
This project required an initial research of the NRI kids' scenario and parenting on one side and on the other side market research as to what all is being done for the same cause and what are current trends in children's book illustrations. To begin with, the assignment clearly showed two compartments to be worked on, eventually followed by a research document and design developments.
Methodology
I started by asking mental questions about the need in the two said compartments.

TARGET GROUP- NRI kids
TARGET GROUP- NRI kids

Parenting?
Why do parents want their kids to know hindi?
PRODUCT- Illustrated hindi rhymes bookUpbringing priorities?
PRODUCT- Illustrated hindi rhymes book
How to connect with the kids?
How will they relate to the poems?

Need for illustrating?
Styles being already used by illustrators?
What would be apt for this kind of target group?
Character/personality of the rhymes?
History/origin of the rhymes?
To find answers to these questions, the next move is to do secondary research.
Books, journals, articles on NRI kids parenting and their curriculum
Books, journals, articles on NRI kids parenting and their curriculum
History, Case study on some publication doing similar work for kids, documenting illustration styles, origin of poems and hindi rhymes
History, Case study on some publication doing similar work for kids, documenting illustration styles, origin of poems and hindi rhymes



After researching and documenting comes the design development stage. For this purpose at first a single rhyme was taken as a sample and ideation was done. Since every rhyme was different and had different origin story the process became very detailed.
Research outcomes
NRI Parenting
Parenting dilemma- They have settled abroad but want their kids to have Indian upbringing. Sometimes the kids grow up to have an identity crisis because they know nothing about their native place and also do not belong to the place they are staying at.
This is the reason that the young NRI parents now follow/practice "Indian-ness" more than the Indians in India.
But how to do that? There are books and literature available for kids but most of it is mythological. Main problem that is faced is the tendency to ask questions like "why" "how" "what" "where".
The parents want their kids to know about Indian but starting with basics like food, clothing, habits, how Indian cities look like, what stands for what, hindi language, basic history etc.

Trends in representation style of books for NRI kids
When illustrating for Indian kids born and brought up abroad, it is always a case of dilemma. Parents want their kids to know their origin, ironically where they have never been before but to make them relate to the book/narrative the visuals should be appropriate. What is appropriate?
Trying to find answer to this question following 3 trends came to notice-
The first kind is a more of "native" style. It is an illustration style that is basic to its roots. It incorporates a tradition visual style telling a tale. Usually this style is very rich in forms and results in a very wondrous experience for the kids. One such internationally best selling Indian publishing house is Tara Books. They see books as objects of thrill and pleasure and believe in providing experience through paper, print and colour.

They combine Indian and Non-Indian elements and twists on traditional modern dichotomy. Each result is distinctive, always with an Indian flavor. Their books are a big hit internationally because- They are age-defying and even adults enjoy it- They have modern themes told in traditional way- The books are tactile and rich in imagination.


The second working style is finding a boundary between Indian and western. It means taking an Indian visual and putting it in a contemporary context, to which kids are familiar. It sort of brings out the original state of affairs "like the character in the illustration; the NRI is an Indian put in contemporary/non-native context". This also works well because children easily associate with things they see around daily. So for them a sunrise is not what is drawn between two conical mountains from which a river is coming down, but probably an orange ball partially seen from between the skyscrapers. It is like putting an Indian warli elephant amongst other English animals in a New York zoo. Working on the same lines is the name 3 Curious Monkeys. This a brand started by two Indian mothers who found it tough to convey Indianess to their kids. They have inspiration from "Gandhiji ke teen Bandar" and created similar characters with the respective characters of "bura mat dekho…bura mat suno and bura mat bolo". These characters are put in present scenario stories for kids who in turn impart information about India.


The last one is showing reality of India. It can also be called as present India. This kind of work deals with telling the picture as it is, no nativity of traditional motives or fancy contemporary landscape. It has more to deal with how India looks in real at present. How the city of Mumbai looks like? Where is the coast? Where is the desert? If a kid needs to be told what a river is, it will definitely have a "ghaat" on its bank and if a fish needs to be introduced to a kid in this style the fish might as well be from Marine drive or Bandstand beach. One of the latest works in the similar style especially for NRI kids is done by FunOK Please publishers. They have released a series of books with titles like "366 words in Mumbai" "366 words in Kolkata" etc.


Basically, works in all sorts of styles are available but the above three are the current trend setters. Educating NRI kids about India is very important and crucial for the parents but tricky at the same time. When it comes to hindi nursery rhymes, we need to understand their motive in the first place. A hindi rhyme was not always a part of our curriculum but were either a part of an activity or passed on orally. Its motive is to enhance pronunciation and reciting skills in a kid. Since a rhyme is catchy, easy to remember and sounds convincing; most of our hindi rhymes have subjects from Indian household so that basic information, manners or morals can be easily inculcated. It does not deal with formal information about India as such but creeps into small intricacies of our lives like playing games in the gali or maa preparing a certain sweet in the kitchen. So it sort of justifies the presence of an Indian character in the narrative. Taking example of a hindi rhyme "chanda mama dur ke"- everyone of us has read and adored this rhyme. But if someone not familiar with this reads it the first question will be why "moon" is our maternal uncle? Such kind of Indian-ness is difficult to explain in a foreign context. We are brought up with a certain set of beliefs and expressions which are exclusive to us. These set of beliefs and expressions are what NRI parents hope to inculcate in their kids too.

Case Study
Tara Books- One of the best-selling Indian publications abroad.
Seeing books as objects of pleasure and thrill.
Combine Indian and non-Indian elements and twists on traditional modern dichotomy. Each result is distinctive and challenging always with an Indian flavor that promotes Indian culture while contemporizing and challenging stereotypes.
They use a single traditional art form with a novel twist.
Philosophy is "to genuinely change the perspective from which stories are told."
How a book works?- it is the final voice in the dialogue between text image and production.
Reframing- looking at truth narratives and relating them to power structures, replacing old stories with new ones. Thereby exposing underlying faulty assumptions and broadening the frame of reference.
They books are age-defying and provide scope for questioning the existing.


Design development for the product
Machali jal ki rani hai
After a lot of brainstorming, the concept we arrived upon was to show the central character as Indian in an un-Indian or foreign setting. The requirement of the client was that the rhymes are Indian but the treatment should be international.

The above is the concept sketch for the rhyme and then it was finally rendered to create 2-3 looks for the client to choose.


This one is rendered in pastel crayons and water based coloured ink.


This one is rendered in just water based ink and felt tip pen.



Final look



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