04 / The Mysterious Cat Town
This book is an excursion of a young girl who permits herself to meander into the magical universe of felines. The fearsome tiny dark felines rule this world.
The cat crossed her path; how about we check whether it’s anything but an unfavourable or a cheerful excursion.
Role
Worked on the entire visual concept and design of the book, including layout, typography, and illustration
Duration
3 months ( July to September 2021 )
Category
Children's Book, Publication Design
Sector
Social, Animals, Culture, Myths, Children
Scope 🔎
Underlying Theme
The broader theme of the project is to look at concerns related to animals, their relationship with human and their depiction in books. The theme also branches out to the interrelated topics of understanding myths, social concerns and child’s psychology.
Research 🤔
Why do animals exist in
children's book?
Animals have been a popular subject in children's literature for centuries because they are relatable and can contribute to engaging stories. They are often used as characters in children's books because they can be easily recognized and understood by young readers.
Insights 👀
Fluid Identities and Anthropomorphism
In the visual world, old generalizations have frequently eliminated individuals — particularly those whose skin tones, body shapes, sexual orientations, or capacities don’t find a way into the validated boxes.
While making a fictional animal character; we shouldn’t restrict the person in any capacity or fix it’s credits in the perceivers mind. It ought to permit space for development, improvement which makes the person more relatable
Explore,
Conceptualise,
Design.
Focus Area 👩🏻💻
Oh No!
It’s a black cat
The Mysterious Cat Town, was an attempt to break the myths and superstitious beliefs around black cats. For centuries across the globe, black cats have been associated as symbols of witchcraft, demons and bad omen.
The bias lingering towards black cats led me to explore this project. This is a tale of a girl and a cat town full of wonder. The black and white illustrations depict the life of the kid before the cat. The slow transition into colours narrates her life after she entered the cat town.
Learnings 🤓
Tracing back my journey
As a result of this project, I have a better understanding of how children's book can impact the growth and development of children. I also tried to bridge the gap between biologically accurate depictions of animals with respect to anthropomorphism.