The First Hellos
A project undertaken from July to November 2014, this publication which is primarily a set of three books with supplements done as a part of the Katha, 'If I were Sky, If I were Story' studio in Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology.
The set of books is designed for children aged 3 years and above. The concept is really simple; it introduces the child to the concept of companionship, making friends. Our context had to spring from a story, thought, idea, person or people that we encountered in a Tibetan settlement in Karnataka, Bylakuppe. Even though I was fascinated by multiple things there, what essentially touched me was how everyone there had such a strong belief in empathy and compassion. I heard different stories from monks and the common folk there, but all their stories had a similar essence. Thus I decided I wanted to introduce empathy at a very simple level for a child, through the idea of opening their minds to new people, new friends.
I wanted to write in simple, comical verse and took inspiration from the works of Roald Dahl, Shel Silverstein and Sampurna Chattarji
A few of my classmates and I held a workshop with kids to get a sense of who we are designing for. This three day workshop involved games, activities and story telling sessions.
Style explorations
Layout explorations
Spreads in black and white
Spreads in colour
Link to the first book
Link to the second book
Link to the third book
Packaging design for the set of books
A link for the manual that comes with the books to help parents and teachers understand how they can use the set effectively.
The set also has colouring and activity pages that can help the child interact and think about empathy in different situations.
Documentation of the process and outcome
