Barry the Blobfish is a children’s narrative I wrote about an ugly deep-sea critter that longs to swim in the sunlight with all the beautiful and colorful fish on top of a coral reef. Barry meets a new friend he names Carry, a tiny cleaner fish, who motivates him to the best of his abilities. As a fish who can’t swim, Barry finds new methods to attempt to reach the top of the cliff. However, with each try, Barry becomes more and more frustrated. Barry the Blobfish is a story to inspire children to dream big, to always stay positive, and to be supportive of others.

 

In my research on blobfish, I was attracted to how expressive they naturally look. They are also a species of fish that cannot swim the way normal fish do. Instead, they use the oxygen in the water to virtually inflate them to float to the surface. The unique physical attributes, and albeit ugly look of this particular fish inspired Barry as a character who is a victim of his own self-doubt.

 

Character designs for Barry were challenging in discovering ways to manipulate the gelatinous texture of his body and bulbous figure in order to illustrate movement and his actions. However, the plumpness and weight became the feature that gave him the most character. Backgrounds, on the other hand, were challenging in that they needed to allow the character layers to blend and act like one image. The final background and character images were merged together in Photoshop and spreads laid out in InDesign. Final presentation of Barry the Blobfish is in both print and eBook.