Dissertation and Literature Review – Potential Approach

Before deciding on a subject for my dissertation, I read the resources included in the coursework.

As suggested, I looked at my interests, my work and what I would like to do in the future.

I used a mind-map to explore all these ideas in my sketchbook.

I am aware that the handwriting is not very easy to read as I was trying to keep the momentum with ideas and connections and I was writing quickly. However, this might give an idea of how I reached my conclusions.

I created a clearer mind-map in PowerPoint where I pushed some ideas further.

This mind-map makes connections between my interests, my work and questions I might still have in some areas.

When I created characters as part of my self-directed project, they still lacked personality in some cases, and I realised that it is partly because I do not always know what I am trying to achieve.

I reflected on character stylisation and how the methods used might depend on the type of illustration: editorial vs. children’s books for instance.

I could choose a theme that could combine the subject of character stylisation with areas of illustration I am interested in. In the next phase of this unit, I would like to explore editorial illustrations, and how I could make some connections with the work I have created so far to create such illustrations. It would be interesting to explore the codes when it comes to stylisation of characters in illustrations and what it means for my work.

The title for the dissertation could be:

Character stylisation: Are there codes that differ across genres? How does Illustrator A compare to Illustrator B and how does my findings impact my practice?

To answer the question, I could concentrate on the work of two or three illustrators.

The next steps is to look at potential sources. I started doing some research and have bookmarked a few websites. So far, I have not really found any interesting books, but I have defined the subject only recently.

I would like to start with some broad research about the work of illustrators to look at the trends in terms of character stylisation.

I also need to define terms such as stylisation and style, character, editorial illustration, to make sure that I understand how to direct my research.