Graphic Narrative Evaluation Image Construction I have built up each of my images using a combination of basic shapes created in Photoshop

with a range of online vectors that I downloaded and applied effects to. These effects tend to be a mix of colour overlaying along with drop shadows and contours that allow them to blend nicely with the solid colour backgrounds and light shading I have used in my images. I have made heavy use of shifting and resizing to obtain precise detail where it is needed. I decided to go for a symbolist colour palette change that warps to red through every page, starting off with a bright, cheerful blue to a dull, monotone red that represents the dark turning point in my narrative and reflects the actions of the man. The palette swap becomes extremely noticeable on page 4 on the right, where the man is lusting after the arm. It becomes a more dull blue, symbolizing the one sided love that the woman offers and the dark desires of the man. In general I think my images came out well for the end result but I believe that they could be vastly improved. The basic use of Photoshop tools means that a lot of the imagery is quite visually basic, and I could offer a lot more detail using both the same tools and online imagery as well as going back and touching up on previous attempts to do this. Anchorage With the text on my pages I have used the Garamond serif font to give the narrative a classic kids book look, as well as taking into account that serifs make it easier for younger/inexperienced readers to distinguish individual letters. Each first letter has been enlarged from the rest of the text so that readers know where to start reading. Typically I have relegated each body of text to around 4 lines maximum, which helps to save room and retain emphasis on the image, as seen to the right. This page has a large emphasis on the gravestone and the text has been kept to the left side, which means that all focus is on the illustration when the page is turned. On the left is an example from an existing childrens book, where it can be seen that the image is the dominating focus of the page and the text is much smaller and in the

upper corners.

I think that my text anchorage is well placed and suitable for my narrative because it contains several cues to help younger/inexperienced readers (serif font, enlarged first letter) as well as being out of the way to make the images the main focus on the page. However, I think certain bodies of text could be improved by making sure that they do not overlap with the illustrations, as seen on page 7 on the right where the lower text is close to overlapping with the ghost. In future I will arrange my text more accurately and provide a clearer reading experience for my audience.

Signification As talked about in the Image Structure, I have chosen a range of colour for the backgrounds and vibe of each page that represent a shift from good to evil, with the turning point being the woman passing away on page 5. This is also the first time the colour black is heavily used, in the clouds and styling. This fits the general mellow tone along with the duller colour, as the colour black is often associated with death and a connection could be made that like the woman, the life has been sapped from the landscape. This page takes place in a cemetery and as such there are several cues that help set the scene. There are sets of hills in the background dotted with tombstones and a large church nestled at the top, creating quite an ominous atmosphere that fits with the vibe of this page. In contrast, page 1 shown on the left uses a palette of bright, vibrant colour that reflect the fresh new beginning vibe that this puts across. It could also be interpreted as representing the innocence of the story as we do not know of the mans greed or disrespect he begins to show later in the narrative. The grass and nature is bright and fresh and the sun is high in the sky, which sets this narrative up for a bright start yet a dark end. The golden arm itself is interesting. It is depicted as solid gold, and completely functional. While his would be impossible in our world it would likely be worth millions if it did exist which justifies the mans greedy desire. Gold as a colour is often seen as a representation of wealth or pride. Overall I believe that some of my ideas for colour representation have been executed really well in my narrative, particularly my palette shift to reflect the story. To improve on this, I believe I could use a more wider range of colour as looking back I seem to lack a bit of variety with the palette, especially with the first pages. Representation In terms of racial representation, no minorities are specifically represented and all of the two characters (the man and the woman) are left to speculation. I chose this, as I did not want to incite potential offence if I accidentally portrayed an ethnic character through my illustration or text. In shots with the man, I have adhered to a basic style that doesnt really show off any discernible features save the basic structure of a face. The intended purpose of this is to leave the man ethnically ambiguous, meaning that there is no set ethnicity for him and that the basic undefined features mean that readers can easily project themselves onto the character or decided mentally what they look like. Both genders are depicted in this narrative yet the woman is adhered to the traditionalalbeit controversial-style of being the weaker sex who is taken advantage of by the man, who does not care for her. The man is depicted as a greedy and cunning individual who does not love his wife and wants her arm instead of her. While these traits are not

gender specific they do take flak at men slightly, but this is intended in that both sexes are at fault in this narrative. Historic and Cultural Context My narrative is based on a folk/fairytale that has been told for several hundred years, and during this time the story has been spliced and changed with the varying narrators. As for the direction of my personal narrative, I have gone the route of the golden arm variation which is universally accepted as being the forerunner of the story. However, changes I have made include a modern setting, evidenced by the presence of cars and TVs. However, the attitudes towards women are clearly retained here as they were seen when this story was first conceived. In terms of modern day stories, this mindset is mostly extinct which reflects our current society and its attitudes towards women. Production Processes In terms of the technical competency of my narrative it is quite simple in the tools used but it uses the simplicity as a way of putting across and ambiguous plotline. My narrative is split into nine pages that are to the point and tell the story without dwindling, as is the standard for most childrens books as it keeps their interest with a continuous plotline and lacking filler. I feel as if I could have used a wider variety of tool to create my narrative. Using Photoshop and vectors from the internet has resulted in a good end product that successfully tells my story with visual representation, but it is quite bland and repetitive in the effects and cues used. Creatively I think I did well in my narrative. Several aspects including landscapes and location design have been designed with originality and flair and show a good use of imagination and relevancy to the plot. However many drawings are simple in my narrative and dont evolve beyond using the simple paint tools in Photoshop. As well as this there are some very basic designs, like the ghost for example, who is simply a white patch with two dark patches for eyes. Where I really succeeded is time management. I managed to hit all my deadlines in the allotted days with time to spare and I felt quite proud as some of the dates were quite tight ( I set one where I was to start 3 pages in a single day) yet I managed to not fall behind. However, because I hit them all I was left with a lot of leftover time which I wasted instead of improving my narrative in different ways. The feedback I received for my project was generally positive, with people praising the unique story, clear designs and shifting color palette. Criticized however, was the simple artwork, lack of tools used and shortness of the story. I do generally agree with these points, especially the lack of specialist tools used, but what I dont agree with is that the story is short. The original intention was that my narrative was to be straight and to the point ,as most childrens stories are which means that their minds can be kept on the story and not distracted by a longer plot. To sum it up, I believe I succeeded with my storytelling and adaption as well as the production, but where I fell short was the design and creation of the graphics. In the future I will likely incorporate more advanced tools to achieve a higher standard of design for my product.